What Now?
by WeHaveACase
Summary: Her life isn't happening exactly the way she'd planned. Things seem to be back on track, but how long will they stay that way? Please Read and Review!
1. What!

I know a lot of this has been done before...and yes its _another _post finale fic, but this is gonna go a little differently than most of the ones you've read. Many thanks to you for reading this, to all my friends who help me put my ideas into words, and to my beta **Annie** for all her help, and for being so great about getting this stuff back to me.

Summary: The aftermath of the proposal, with a different twist...

Disclaimer: All belongs to ASP...well the characters do anyway...except for some of the ones in the later chapters...those are mine...and the story line is mine...well most of it, darn I'm rambling...okay I'll stop now...on with the story.

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Chapter One What! 

"Luke will you marry me?" Lorelai asked softly, then held her breath for his answer.

"What!" was all Luke could say. His mind was racing. _Did she just say what I thought she said? Oh my God. That was supposed to be my line. Wait, what about Rory..she's upset right now..she probably doesn't mean it..._

"Will you marry me?"

_Okay, maybe she does. He sank into the nearest chair. God this is my dream come true..I love her more than anything.. _Luke's face fell at that thought.

Meanwhile, Lorelai sat in silence, trying to allow him time to 'absorb' or whatever, but when she saw his face fall, she couldn't remain silent. "Luke?"

"Uh...that was supposed to be my line," he croaked out, "Lorelai, I uh-

"I love you, Luke. I want to marry you" she stated calmly, surprising Luke and herself.

"God I love you too Lorelai, but do you really think now is the right time?" He stood and began to pace. "I mean you're upset over your parents, and this whole thing with Rory...you might regret this later."

She stood, taking his hands to calm his pacing. "I won't regret it...I want this Luke."

"Me too," he admitted, "but maybe we should wait until some of this blows over...make sure _you_ still want this when your world isn't falling apart around you."

Lorelai breathed a small sigh of relief, he wasn't turning her down. At least not now, not completely. "Alright I'll wait," she heard herself say, as she leaned in to kiss him reassuringly, "but I'm still going to want this, us."

He smiled weakly. "Let's just get us through the next few weeks."

She nodded silently and snuggled into his chest allowing, and almost urging, him to hold her tightly. After a moment she broke away, pulling him by the hand towards the stairs, all thoughts of chemical imbalances and kidnapping forgotten for the time being.

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Please Read and Review _TBC_

Sorry its so short, I just had to get that out of the way. The rest will be longer. Hope you liked it!


	2. Falling Apart

Disclaimer: Not mine, yada yada yada.

Summary: The aftermath of the proposal, with a different twist.

Thanks to all who read and reviewed the first chapter. And thanks especially to my beta **Annie** for all her help...you are an angel, without you I would not have been able to post this. Angel, you've got wings baby!

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Chapter 2 Falling Apart

The next two months seemed to fly by and drag at the same time, if that was possible. Luke and Lorelai went on as they had before, neither mentioning the proposal, but neither forgetting it. Their relationship became strained, a development that baffled Lorelai. The change wasn't immediate, rather she noticed Luke gradually pulling away from her; emotionally that is. Physically was a different story. They seemed to have gone from making love to having sex; a fact that bothered her deeply. She just couldn't understand how a marriage proposal, something that should have made them closer than ever, was tearing them apart.

Things on the Rory front were gradually improving. In typical Lorelai fashion, she'd refused to do nothing while Rory threw her life away; so, she jumped into action. In an effort to prove that Mitchum Huntzberger was wrong about Rory's abilities, she'd sent articles that Rory had had published to multiple newspapers in Hartford, Litchfield, Woodbury, and even New York, including the New York Times. And, it'd actually worked...backfired even. The people at the New York Times like her work so much they'd offered her a position, which, after much thought and debate, she'd accepted. After receiving the job offer, she'd applied and been accepted as a transfer studentat NYU, something Lorelai had mixed feeling about. She was thrilled that Rory wasn't giving up on her dream and going back to school, and was rather pleased that the transfer to New York was taking her away from Logan's influence (as well as that of his family)...but it was also taking Rory away from _her_. Oh well, that was just something she would have to deal with, and, as long as Rory didn't give up, she would.

Rory moved to New York at the end of June, about a month and a half after the 'yacht incident', as they'd taken to calling it, with her mother's blessing and orders to call and visit often. Their relationship seemed to be repaired, back to the way they'd been before Logan. Unfortunately, she couldn't say the same about her relationship with Luke. Their relationship seemed superficial, like they were just going through the motions. Luke had withdrawn emotionally from the relationship weeks ago, and Lorelai had begun to as well, in an effort to preserve her own sanity.

The last straw came for her about two weeks after Rory had moved to New York. There was nothing special about the day she just seemed to snap, confronting Luke one day in the diner after closing. She was sitting at the counter sipping her coffee while he cleaned, when she finally became fed up with his indifference. She set her cup down.

"Luke, we need to talk." He raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing good can ever come of those words."

"Yeah well too bad, cuz we do." He sat on a stool next to her, a little taken aback by her attitude. "Okay, we can talk."

"Fine, care to tell me what the hell is going on with you?"

"What do you mean 'going on with me,' there's nothing going on."

"Bull." She stated quietly, "you've been distant and uninvolved for months."

"No, I haven't -"

"Yes you have" She interrupted," You've been quiet and moody, the monosyllabic man from before we were dating is back, and frankly that scares the crap out of me."

"No, I haven't." he repeated weakly.

"Yes you have! And you haven't said anything about my proposal, something that should have brought us closer together, oh and seriously, when was the last time we made love, huh?"

He blushed. "Like last week...seriously what's the -"

"Ha!" She exploded, "that was not making love, we haven't made love since before I proposed. That, was mindless sex, like it's been for the past two months. What the hell happened to us Luke? I love you, and I thought you loved me. I thought you were 'all in'."

Finally he exploded, "Well maybe I can't be anymore." His statement rang through the empty diner. "I. I just need some time to figure some things out." he said, softer this time, seeing her hurt expression.

"Okay." She said quietly, her eyes welling up with tears, "I love you, and I think I always will." With that she turned and left the diner.

She was halfway to her house before she allowed the tears to fall, and by the time she made it upstairs to her room she was falling apart. She collapsed onto her bed and cried endlessly for what seemed like hours, before she drifted into a restless sleep, fully clothed on top of her bed.

When she awoke the next morning, it took her a few moments to remember why she was still in her work clothes from the day before, but when she did, it all came rushing back. The argumentwith Luke, and him saying that he was out. She fell back against the pillows, rubbing her head. Finally she got up, shuffled downstairs and started a pot of coffee. While it brewed, she went and found her cell phone. She dialed and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Mr. Armstrong...this is Lorelai Gilmore..."

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Read and Review please! _TBC_

Hope this length was better for everyone. I've got a third chapter already written so I'll be posting it soon. Hope you liked it!


	3. A Tearful Goodbye

Summary: She and Luke broke up, and she called Mike Armstrong...what now?

Disclaimer: Oy with the poodles already! Another disclaimer...ah jeez just go to the first page if you really wanna read one. If not, keep reading for the story.

Once again...thanks so much to by beta **Annie**. You are awesome, you are totally "fetch" (1000 Whose Line points to whoever knows where thats from). Without you, this story would not be possible. Oh and thanks to all my friends who don't think I'm crazy for wanting to write this story, and for helping me put it on paper (er...computer). Thanks so much, ya'll are the bestest!

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Chapter 3 A Tearful Goodbye 

Lorelai spent the rest of the day packing and making phone calls. She had to make arrangements for the inn, so she hired back Tobin, much to Michel's dismay, though he was please that he was now the other man's superior. As for her packing, she would take only her essentials; she intended to ask Sookie to have the rest sent to her once she found a place.This brought her to the last thing she had to do before leaving Stars Hollow; tell Sookie.

Driving through town towards Sookie's, it seemed like the town was deserted, something that surprised her, though she was grateful. It meant she didn't have to pretend or make excuses to any nosy townspeople, she could just see Sookie and be on her way.

When she arrived at Sookie's, she sat in the Jeep for a few moments trying to gather herself. _You can do this Lorelai_, she told herself, _time to get it over with_. She grabbed a pack of tissues and her purse and slid out of the Jeep. Sookie answered the door with baby Martha in her arms.

"Hey sweetie." Lorelai smiled weakly at the familiar endearment.

"Can I come in?" When Sookie nodded and stepped aside, Lorelai moved past her and into the house. Sookie eyed her curiously as they settled onto the couch after she'd put Martha in her bassinet. Once they were both seated, Sookie finally broke the silence.

"What's going on Lorelai? Are you okay?" After taking a few for herself, Lorelai handed her the packet of tissues as Sookie watched her, looking more confused.

" I..I'm leaving Sookie."

"What! Why, when?" Sookie exclaimed.

"Tomorrow. I, I made a deal with Mike Armstrong. They're going to invest in the inn instead of buying it, and I'm going to be a consultant for their company."

"Oh. Honey, what about Luke?"

At the mention of his name Lorelai began crying. " We - we broke up" Sookie jumped up and wrapped her arms around Lorelai.

"Oh honey what happened?"

Lorelai burst into sobs, "He said he can't be 'in' anymore. Sookie he's changed so much in the past few months. I don't know what happened. I thought we were in love." Sookie rubbed her back and let her cry.

After a few moments she stopped crying. Once she had quieted Sookie broke the silence.

"What are you going to do honey?"

"I'm gonna stay with Rory for a little while, until I find out where they're sending me and can get a place of my own."

"Does Luke know you're leaving? It might change his mind if he knew."

"No." Lorelai said forcefully. "I don't want him to come back to me justbecause I'm leaving. He- he doesn't want to marry me, and I won't stick around just to be miserable."

"Okay...You'll let me know if there's anything you need me for right?" Lorelai nodded. "Wait, what about the inn?"

"Well, I promoted Michel to general manager, and hired Tobin back to fill Michel's place. The Durham group will be investing in return for my acting as a consultant, and I will act as a silent partner with you and Michel." Sookie nodded silently. "I, I need to go finish packing. I'm just taking the stuff I'll need and I was hoping that, once I find a place to live, you could send the rest of my stuff to me."

"Of course sweetheart" Sookie hugged her. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too," Lorelai sniffled. "Bye Sook." They hugged again.

"Bye Lorelai." And with that she watched her best friend walk down her driveway to her car for what could be the last time.

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Please Review!_TBC_


	4. Always Here

Disclaimer: If you want a funny disclaimer ask Aunt Cecile, if not, just read the one from chapter one.

Summary: After Luke turned down her proposal, Lorelai must figure out what to do, so she's leaving Stars Hollow.

Thank you everyone who's helped me with this. Thanks to **Oleda**, **ProFfeSseR**, **griffin14, Lorelai Anderson, **and **orangesherbert7 **for reviewing the first two chapters (I'm writing this so I can post it at the same time as Ch3..so if you review chapter three, don't feel left out...I'll thank you later). Thanks to my beta **Annie** for helping me with this story...you totally get the Oppenheimer Award for Excellence! I luv u!

Please read and review..I'll love you forever!

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Chapter 4 (any title ideas annie?) 

It was early the next morning when Lorelai loaded her things into her Jeep and said goodbye to her home, the home where she and Rory had grown up. As she drove through the quiet town in her heavily loaded Jeep, she remembered another late night road trip. This time however she was alone, and wouldn't be coming back.

Lorelai drove for hours trying to drown out her thoughts with The Bangles and even Barry Manilow. Eventually she drove along in silence, still wrestling her emotions. She was miserable, she wanted to scream in frustration at Luke, and cry for the loss of what she'd hoped was forever. She did let herself cry for a few minutes as she drove, but gathered herself as she arrived in the city.

It took her nearly an hour to find where Rory's apartment was located, between the Times Headquarters and NYU. A few moments later she'd found Rory's apartment and knocked on the door. Almost immediately Rory opened the door, and was shocked to see her mother.

"Hey kid...can mommy stay with you for a while?"

Rory stood in the doorway gaping at her mother. "When did you- Why are- How-"

"Full sentences babe."

"What are you doing here? I mean, you're welcome here, you're my mom..but why are you here Don't you have work? What about the inn?"

"Can I come in?"

"Oh, right, yeah sorry," Rory stepped aside to allow her mother to enter, and shut the door behind her, following her into the living room. "Can I get you anything? Something to eat maybe? Well, wait, there's not really any food in this place, I am after all my mother's daughter, uh..I got coffee. You want some coffee?"

Lorelai smiled at Rory's little ramble, "That would be wonderful honey."

Once they both had their coffee they settled onto the couch.

"So mom, what's going on? You okay?"

"Uh yeah- Oh hey, I haven't gotten a tour of the place yet. What do ya say you give me the ten cent tour huh?"

Lorelai rose from her seat and Rory followed helplessly. "Okay well this here is obviously the living room, and over here we have the kitchen. The door on the left there goes into my room, and the one on the right is the guest room, where you can stay, andthere's a bathroom through that door there. And...that's about it. It's an apartment, so it's not very big."

"Of course not...It's perfect for you. Do you like it here?"

"Love it. Now, would you care to tell me what you're doing here? In New York. In my apartment."

"Visiting you...aren't I allowed to visit my favorite daughter?"

"I'm your only daughter; and that's besides the point when you show up at my door with half of what you own. Now it's not that I'm not happy to spend time with you, but somehow I get the feeling that this isn't just a visit. What's up mom?"

"This isn't even close to half of what I own...more like a quarter, maybe even an eighth-"

"Mom." Rory warned.

Lorelai sank into the nearby armchair and buried her head in her arms. "We broke up," came her muffled reply.

"What?" Rory sat on the end of the coffee table.

"Luke and I, we broke up. Its o-over" she said on a wail.

"Oh mom," Rory slipped off the table and wrapped her arms around her mother and held her while she cried, willing to fill the role for her mother that Lorelai had all ofher life. When she had calmed down, Rory offered her a tissue and took her seat back on the table.

"What happened Mom?"

"He- he doesn't want to marry me." She sniffled. When Rory opened her mouth to ask another question, Lorelai interrupted her. "You know what, I'm really kinda tired, its been a long day, I think I'm gonna turn in." She stood and headed to the room Rory had earlier identified as the guest room. "You sure you don't mind me staying here for awhile?"

"Stay as long as you want. And I'm always here...you know, if you wanna talk about it."

"I know kid." She smiled weakly. "Night, love ya."

"Love you too mom." Lorelai closed the door and Rory sank back into the couch and turned on the television. After flipping channels for awhile she turned it off and grabbed for the phone.

"Hey Jess, it's Rory..."

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Please Review...oh and another 1000 Whose Line points to whoever can tell me what Gilmore Girl episode I referenced in my disclaimer and thank yous. 


	5. Girl Talk

Disclaimer: Hold your horses little miss horsie holder, when I come up with a funny disclaimer, i'll post it. Until then, the characters aren't mine, as I am not ASP.

Summary: Luke broke up with Lorelai, so she left Stars Hollow and has gone to visit Rory...sorry I suck at summaries.

Thanks so much to everyone that's reading this story. I love seeing that some of you are reviewing, and even adding me to your story/author alert...makes me feel special (hopefully not eating the paste special though!). I totally live to hear "You've got love letters" in Kenny Chesney's sexy voice, and to open my mailbox to find I've gotten a review. Thanks to Annie, my beta, for all your help...I know you were skeptical at one point, but I appreciate you sticking by me and helping me get this done. Alright, enough from me...enjoy the story!_

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Chapter 5 Girl Talk (sorry about chapter 4, forgot to replace it with my actual title lol)

_Last time: "Hey Jess, Its Rory..."_

About twenty minutes later there was a knock at the door, and Rory opened it to reveal none other than Jess Mariano, bearing two pizza boxes.

"Thanks for coming so quickly." She said as she gestured for him to come in and set the boxes down on the counter.

"No problem." They sat down at the table as he continued, "So what's with the comfort food? Is everything okay?"

"I don't know." She looked over her shoulder towards the closed guest room door, and he followed her glance. "My mom showed up earlier, adn she's in pretty bad shape...Luke broke up with her."

"What! Why in the world would he do something like that? He's like sickeningly in love with her."

"I know. She just said that he didn't want to marry her, and then clammed up and went to bed. I'm hoping I can go in there and we can have a little girl talk, and figure something out."

"Okay, well I'll get out of your way then. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, the pizzas are great thanks. I'll call you once I can figure out what's going on."

"Sounds good. See ya later Rory."

"Bye Jess, and thanks again."

After locking the door behind him, Rory turned her attention to the pizza boxes on the counter. She grabbed a handful of paper plates and napkins, and a couple of sodas, and juggled them over to her mother's closed door and knocked.

"Yeah?" came the muffled reply.

"I've got food..." She paused and after a few minutes she heard,

"Come in." Rory opened the door to find her mom getting situated under the covers of the bed, trying to disguise the fact that she'd been curled up crying just a few minutes earlier. When she spotted the pizza boxes she smiled.

"My angel. My stomach was just reminding me that I'd skipped lunch."

"Well then I'm glad I could be of service." Rory said as she settled down n the bed next to her mother, handing her a soda and the plates and napkins. They both grabbed a slice of pizza and chewed in satisfied silence. After a few minutes, Rory broke the silence.

"So, when are you going to tell me what really happened?" Lorelai drew in a breath.

"Rory." She warned weakly.

"Mom." Rory returned.

Lorelai set her plate down and sighed. "It's kinda a long story honey..."

"I've got all night mom."

Lorelai rubbed a hand over her face and sighed again.

"I..I think it started the night ou moved in with the grandparents." She paused and Rory nodded for her to continue. "Well, I told him that you'd dropped out of Yale, and he started this rant about telling them that you'd had a chemical imbalance and kidnapping you, so you wouldn't give up on your dream. And I was just sitting there realizing how much I loved him, I mean, he's always been there for us, me. He was the only constant in my life. So I-" She hesitated.

"You..." Rory prompted.

"I..proposed."

Rory's jaw dropped, "What!"

"Yeah, that's what he said. I told him that I loved him, and he said it back, but then he said that I was upset over you and my parents and that we should wait so I wouldn't regret it later."

"But that was two months ago."

"I know...things started getting weird between us after that."

"Weird how?"

"Just weird...kinda tense. He pulled away emotionally. He turned back into the grumpy guy from before we started dating. I felt like I was in a one sided relationship, he didn't call me unless I called him, and I had to prompt him and bug him to do stuff with me. Finally, I just couldn't handle in any more, it got to be too much."

"What'd you do?"

"Confronted him. Asked him what the hell was going on...why he'd withdrawn from us, from me."

"What'd he say?"

She sniffled, "He denied it, said nothing was going on. So I got upset and yelled something like, 'I thought you were all in." Tears started rolling down her cheeks and Rory handed her a tissue and moved the forgotten food out of the way so she could hug her mother.

"What happened then?"

"He said- he said he couldn't be anymore!"

"Oh mom." Rory sat back and let her mom lay her headin her lap, and stroked her hair as she cried.

"He's the one, I know he is. I love him. What h..happened? W.What did I do? Why doesn't he want me?" She sobbed.

After a crying for awhile, she gradually quieted down, and the girls shifted back onto the pillows and Lorelai fell asleep, exhausted from the emotionally draining day. Rory lay next to her mom and rubbed her back comfortingly, until she herself fell asleep.

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Two days later Lorelai awoke to her most dependable alarm clock, Rory, and dressed for her first day with the Durham Group. 

When she arrived at their New York office, she was shown around by the boss himself, Mike Armstrong. She met people whose names she couldn't even begin to remember, and was given her job description. She was going to spend three days a week in the office with clients and doing paperwork, and the remaining two on location at some of the new inns that the company had acquired.

By lunch she was exhausted, and sank into her seat in her office, happy to be able to get off her feet for what seemed like the first time all day. She was just beginning to give in to her stomach's demands for food when she heard a knock at the door. She opened it to reveal one of her new coworkers, _a J name_, she thought, _Jenna..Jamie..._

"Hi you're Lorelai right? I'm Julie." The young woman said, as she offered Lorelai her hand.

_Ah Julie_. "Yeah, that's me." Lorelai shook her hand. "I met you earlier right?" Julie nodded. "Sorry its just I've met so many people in the last few hours that its hard to remember them all."

"Oh I totally understand. I just started about a month ago, so I know exactly where you're coming from."

"Wow, so I'm not the only new one here. I'm so glad, I've felt like the odd one out all morning."

Julie laughed, "I know how you feel. Listen, I was just about to go to lunch, you wanna join me?" When she saw Lorelai hesistate, "You won't have to eat alone on your first day..."

Lorelai smiled, "Alright sure. Just let me grab my purse." When she returned to the door, she locked it and they headed out. "It's ironic how 'high school' like this is huh?" Julie laughed. "Okay so where to?"

"Well there's a great little diner around the corner from her." When she saw Lorelai visibly blanche, she hurried to add, "or the fabulous Chinese place across the street."

"Chinese sounds great actually"

"Chinese it is then." And they set off for the restaurant.

After they'd eaten, they sat back and got to know each other, and discovered that the two women had a lot in common. Julie was new to New York from California, and had moved with her three year old daughter after a messy divorce at the tender age of thirty-five, and had gotten the job with the Durham Group after two months in the city. She also had a strained relationship with her parents, although her issues were more with her father, as opposed to Lorelai's issues with her mother. Julie was thrilled to find that Lorelai had a daughter at NYU, and the two made plans to get together so they could meet. Soon the ladies had to return to the office, but they made plans to do lunch again the next day.

When the day was over, Lorelai dragged herself hom, exhausted from the faster pace work than she was used to. She arrived home to find a note from Rory.

Mom -

Sorry but I won't be home til late.

Something came up at the paper.

There's pizza in the fridge

and take out menus in the second drawer,

so help yourself. See you later tonight!

- Rory

Lorelai smiled as she grabbed the box of pizza and a soda and popped in a movie. She plopped down in front of the TV and turned it on, to see the opening credits of Serving Sara, and settled in for a comfortable night of Matthew Perry and leftover pizza.

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_TBC_

Okay, so that was a little bit longer than I'm used to, but let me know if that was a better length for you. Next I think we'll take a look at Luke's reaction to Lorelai's departure.

Please Review!


	6. Author Note

A/N: Okay well I had to do a little author's note, while I wait for my beta to get back to me with chapter 6. I noticed that a lot of you said that Aunt Cecile is from Wedding Bell Blues...which is actually not the one I was thinking up. The aunt in WBB that had a thing for Luke was Marilyn (played by marilyn ross), and the one who stunk up everyone she hugged was Totsy. So yeah...Aunt Cecile is from a different episode...while I'm waiting for my sixth chapter back, I'll give ya'll another opportunity. Here's a little clue...in my thank you, I referenced the Oppenheimer Award for Excellence, which was also from the same episode as Aunt Cecile (think pre season four). Hope this helps...and thanks so much for all the great reviews, and I will have chapter six up as soon as possible!


	7. She's Gone

Disclaimer: So...yeah, I'm not ASP, cuz like if I was, Luke and Lorelai would have been together a long time ago...so yeah...characters, not mine.

Summary: Luke's reaction.

Thank you to everyone who's reviewed. Its totally awesome, I went from having like 6 reviews to like 18! Oh and everyone who reviewed post authors note was right about Aunt Cecile. Um, thanks to my beta** Annie**, for doing this, even though she's just getting back from vacation. You rock girlie! Okay, on with the story...

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Chapter 6She's Gone.

_I love you, and I think I always will._

Luke watched her fight back tears as she turned and left his diner, barely keeping himself from going after her. _She just doesn't understand, _he thought, then mentally kicked himself for blaming her. _Hell I don't even understand, how's she supposed to? _He turned and headed upstairs to his apartment, emotionally drained, and he knew she was right. He had withdrawn from the relationship, and, embarrassed as he was to admit it, she was right about the sex thing...his heart just wasn't in it. _I have a lot to figure out_, he thought. He slipped into bed, suddenly conscious of the emptiness of the other side. _I'll give her a few days, and then I'll go over and apologize, _he thought as he drifted into a shallow sleep.

A few days later, Luke stood on her porch. _Come on Luke_, he coached himself, _you need to do this, for both of you_. He raised his hand to knock.

"She's not there Luke." He heard Babette say, and his hand froze.

"Oh." He said, trying to mask his disappointment. "Do you know when she'll be back?" He asked, feeling stupid for not knowing his own girlfriend's whereabouts.

"Honey, I don't think she's coming back." He heard Babette say, and his heart stopped.

"Wh-what?" He barely got out.

"She loaded her Jeep and left early yesterday morning. She's gone doll..." Babette said, eyeing him with sympathy.

"No..." He whispered to himself, remembering a past town meeting, in which he'd angrily agreed to move in case of a break up, and Babette misinterpreted his silence for confusion.

"You might want to see if Sookie knows anything..." she trailed off.

He cleared his throat, "Uh right, thanks Babette..." he choked out as he hurried back to his truck.

"No problem." Babette's reply was lost as his truck sped down the gravel driveway and through town.

_Oh God no, this can't be happening. I can't lose her. I don't want to be out! _He thought as he sped towards the Dragonfly. _She wouldn't really leave...would she? The Dragonfly's here, this place is her baby. She's probably just getting away for a few days,_ he tried to rationalize, even as a little part of his brain whispered, _You've done it now Danes, she's gone_." "Shut up." He spoke out loud into the empty truck cab as he pulled into the Dragonfly driveway. He jumped out and ran up the porch steps, freezing in the doorway. The very doorway in which their relationship had started. He couldn't move as the memories flooded over him.

_"There was! There was a moment...What are you doing?"_

_"Would you just stand still?"_

_"I just want you to know, I'min. I am all in." _

"You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking I can't be in this relationship anymore, it's too much"

_"Cuz baby you're lost without me...right?"_

_"You bet."_

_"Luke, will you marry me?"_

_"What?"_

His eyes began to well up with tears, but he was snapped out of his reverie by a very annoyed French voice coming from the front desk.

"Sookie, that lumberjack man is here...blocking the entrance."

And he turned to see Sookie coming out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel and calling instructions to the employees in the kitchen behind her. She looked up and saw Luke, her eyes immediately filling with pity.

"She's not here Luke."

"Where is she? Where did she go Sookie?"

She took a deep breath, andthen gestured for him to follow her. "Come on; let's sit where we can talk privately."

When they were settled he asked again, "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Sookie answered honestly. "She was going to call me when she found a place, but I haven't heard from her yet."

"She's not coming back." He stated quietly, burying his head in his hands.

"No." She said afraid of what he would think. **"**I'm sorry Luke."

"Why? Why did she leave?" He asked, looking up at Sookie with pain filled eyes.

"You guys broke up." Sookie said simply. "She said she couldn't stay here and be miserable."

"Oh God. I wasn't- I didn't mean to-" He looked up again, suddenly uncomfortable pouring his heart out in the Dragonfly lounge. "Um, thanks Sookie...I'll uh, get out of your way." He got up and started to walk away.

"She loves you Luke. If you can find her..." Sookie trailed off.

He nodded silently and left.

He drove in miserable silence for what seemed like hours, until he found himself in the parking lot of Sniffy's Tavern. After a few moments, he dragged himself out of his truck and into the familiar restaurant. The hostess recognized him immediately and seated him at his regular table, which was where Maize found him an hour later, nursing his fourth beer.

"Young man...what do you think you're doing?" Her voice snapped him out of his daze.

"She's gone Maize. I screwed up and she left."

"Oh dear...scoot over." He made room for the older woman in the booth and she slid in next to him. "What happened Lucas?"

"She- she proposed. She proposed, I realized how much I love her, and I freaked."

"And why's that?"

"I...I was afraid to lose her."

"Well you sure dodged that bullet." His head popped up, surprised at her sarcasm. "What did you think was going to happen? A woman like her wasn't going to stick around just to be miserable, with or without you."

"That's what she said." He whispered. "I really blew it. She's _gone_ Maize." He said helplessly.

"Well go after her!"

"No one knows where she is! Not even Sookie..."

"What's a Sookie?"

"Her best friend."

"Oh..."

"What am I going to do?"

"You really want to know what I think you should do." He nodded. "I think you need to stay away from the beer first of all," she said, grabbing the bottle from his hand, "Give her some time, she might come back; and in the meantime, figure out exactly what it was that made you 'freak' as you put it. Then go after her for God's sake!"

"But I don't know where she is!"

"Eventually she'll get in contact with this Sookie person, and maybe by then you'll have yourself figured out."

"Okay," he sighed, "Thanks Maize."

"That's what I'm here for son." He smiled weakly and slid out of the booth, and she watched the closest thing she'd had to a son walk out her door, his heart breaking.

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Please Review! _TBC_


	8. The City That Never Sleeps

Okay so shoot me...poke me with a really sharp stick...I am sooooooooo sorry this chapter took so long. I know this is really no excuse for leavin ya'll hangin (apparently I'm southern now, lol) but I started school on Aug. 24 and its taken me a few weeks to get back in to the swing of things to be able to get myself time on my laptop to type all this. I also got kinda ahead of myself with the planning of the future events of the story and forgot I needed to fill in the time leading up to that stuff and then I had some issues coming up with stuff for this chapter. Let me tell you though..you definitely need to keep reading, this story is definitely going somewhere good. And for those of you who say you are dying to know what happened with Luke..I'm gonna have to ask that you don't die yet, it's gonna be a few more chapters til you find out. He's going to be the one to tell us what he was thinking when he said he was out, and the next few chapters are gonna be on Lorelai's time in New York. So please stay alive and keep reading and reviewing. You will find out soon..I promise.

Okay so I'm done doing disclaimers...I figure after seven chapters of a story that actually didn't happen on the season premiere (which I_ loved _by the way) that you know that the characters and locations aren't mine. ASP owns Lorelai, Luke, Rory, the Gilmores and everybody else in Stars Hollow..which she also owns..and New York belongs to the United States (I know, news flash). So..yeah..not mine. Julie and Micaela, and any other new characters I introduce, however, do belong to me...so don't steal 'em! LOL. Well...this kinda turned into a disclaimer so..no more after this. I'm done, finished, there will be no more, zip, zilch, zero, nada...

Okay so thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed so far...as much as I'd like to be, I'm not great at doing funny shout outs like some of the authors I've read (I recommend Muffin Is Injured...she's great at that rambling thing, like Lorelai) so I'm not even gonna try. Just thanks to everyone who's been reviewing and all that jazz, and please, keep it up! Thanks a bunch to my beta **Annie**...you are an angel...I wouldn't have been able to do this chapter without your input..."Did I ever tell you you're my hero..." lol!

Okay so (and I promise that's the _last_ time I'll say that) A lot of you got the Aunt Cecile reference right. It was from Richard In Stars Hollow..at least I think that was the episode title...she was the Aunt with really bad knock knock jokes, who (or is it whom) Lorelai, Emily and Richard wanted to boot out of the family crypt to make room for any future husband of Lorelai's. Major props and like 2000 Whose Line points to all of you who got it right...and without further ado (he he funny word)...the story...

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Chapter 7 The City that Never Sleeps

Rory was a bundle of nerves as she drove away from her mother's house on her way to New York. She glanced back to see her mother, still waving, in her rearview mirror. She couldn't believe all that had happened in the past year. She'd gotten involved with Logan Huntzberger, probably against her own better judgment, and had begun doubting herself and her abilities. She'd hit rock bottom the night she received Mitchum Huntzberger's "review" and convinced Logan to steal the yacht. When she'd dropped out of Yale and moved in with her grandparents, she'd tried to ignore how far she'd fallen. Her mother's plan's success had coincided wonderfully with her own realization of the stupidity of her actions. So when the call had come from the New York Times she'd been thrilled; her decision only cemented by her acceptance to NYU. Things between her and Logan had gradually been cooling down since the "yacht incident", so when the opportunity had arisen, she'd jumped at the chance without a second thought. Her grandparents, while pleased that she was going back to school (and still offering to pay for it), were less than thrilled that she was leaving Yale and moving to New York. They claimed to understand however, and had renegotiated their weekly Friday night dinners to bi-monthly ones, with the stipulation that she call often.

And her mother, though thrilled that Rory wasn't giving up (and of course that her plan had worked), hatedthe idea of her moving. They'd spent hours talking and crying together, over the mistakes of the past few months and their impending separation, making the week or so before her departure their most emotional yet. They'd stood by her car for almost a half an hour laughing, crying, and promising phone calls and emails before she'd finally gotten into her car and pulled out of the driveway, still waving, even as she passed the only stoplight in town.

When she arrived in New York three Bangles CDs and even a few patented "Lorelai mixes" later, she went straight to the apartment her grandparents had rented for her, equally located between NYU and the New York Times headquarters Typical of her grandmother, the apartment had already been furnished, so after she unpacked her clothes and other personal stuff, she headed out to take a look around the city, before she had to report to the paper and school the next day.

New York was amazing, the complete opposite end of the spectrum from everything she'd ever known. Crowded, noisy and impersonal, New York was everything Stars Hollow wasn't, and Rory loved it. By the end of the first day, she'd taken the subway around the city, spent time (and money) in Times Square, and people watched near her apartment. She'd also checked out some of the restaurants in the neighborhood, much like she and Lorelai had on her first night at Yale. By six o'clock she was starving, and decided to try a little pizza parlor she'd spotted on her corner earlier that day.

The place was packed when she walked in and grabbed the last available seat, nodding in acknowledgement when a stressed waitress called over the crowd,

"Just grab a seat if you can, I'll be with you in a minute."

After ordering her pizza, Rory sat staring out the window, mesmerisedby the crowds of people rushing by, all seeming to be in a great hurry to get somewhere or other. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted.

"R-Rory?" She looked up to see Jess standing next to her table, holding a slice of pizza and looking about as shell shocked as she felt.

"Jess?"

"Oh my God," he exclaimed as he set what turned out to be her pizza slice on the table and leaned in to hug her. "What are you doing in New York?"

"Uh well-" she stuttered as she awkwardly (A/N: I love that word...so weird, so, dare I say it, awkward) returned his hug, "I actually just moved here."

"Seriously?" He asked, somewhere between surprised and skeptical, "What happened to Yale?"

She shifted uncomfortably, "Well it's a long, rather painful and embarrassing story...lets just say I hit a rough patch, managed to recover, and am now a student at NYU and intern/employee at the New York Times." She finished proudly.

"Wow. A lot has changed in the past year."

"No kidding; I actually-" She began, but was interrupted.

"Hey Mariano, I could really use your help over here...you know, seeing as I'm payin you..."

"Sure thing boss." He yelled over his shoulder. "Sorry 'bout that, listen, I'd love to catch up later, once I'm off the clock? Whadya say we meet up later, like eight-ish, and I can show you around town?"

"Sounds great."

"Great...so, enjoy your pizza." He smiled as he waved and headed back into the kitchen.

_Whoa_ she thought _what are the odds I'd run into Jess my first day here...especially working at a pizza parlor. I thought he'd gone to California. I guess a lot_ has _changed in the past year. The last time I saw him he was begging me to run away with him, and now he's hugging me like nothing ever happened..._

She was still lost in her thoughts when she was startled by a hand waving in front of her face. She looked up to see Jess standing above her, with a rather amused expression on his face.

"Sorry to pull you away from your la-la land, but I'm off the clock now."

"Oh great," she said, and gathered her things, following him out the door and onto the street.

"You know you didn't have to wait for me..."

"It wasn't a problem, I had a book and plenty of stuff to keep me occupied. Besides, you don't know where my place is, and I have no idea where you live, so..." She trailed off.

"Ahh, true," he said, chuckling. "Finding you would have presented a problem...okay, so how long have you been in the city?"

"Just today, I actually got her this afternoon. So far I've only been around Times Square and my own neighborhood."

"Okay, that leaves us a lot of space to cover tonight, and plenty of time to do it in."

"Right, city that never sleeps...I however, must. I've gotta be at work at 8:30 in the morning, and I've got school, which I must stay awake for, at one.

"Then we cover the essentials tonight and I'll show you the extras some other time."

"Sounds good," she shrugged, and they began walking, him pointing out restaurants, bookstores, and yes, even coffee shops.

Later that night as they sat in the "best coffee shop in New York City," they finally got a chance to just talk.

"So you already know what's been happening with me in the past year, but you've yet to fill me in on what's going on with you..."

"Well, I don't know if you already knew this, but I did finally go back and finish my high school degree..."

"Oh that's great!"

"Yeah, and now I'm going to Community College, and majoring in English."

"Well that's awesome."

"Yeah," he said. He looked into his coffee cup, back up at her, and then back into his coffee. "And I've got a girlfriend..."

"Oh," she said; not sure how she was supposed to react. She was happy for him, sure, but something in his manner made her unsure whether that was the right reaction. When he didn't say anything else...

"And...That's good right?" She prompted.

"Yeha, yeah it is." He said, looking visibly relieved, almost as if he'd expected her to be upset, and went on. "She's great actually, her name's Micaela, and we met at school. She's studying to be an elementaryschool teacher."

"Oh great." She said. _So that explains how friendly he's been_, she thought, chancing a look at her watch. "Oh shoot, it's getting late. I'd better get home, I've got work in the morning.." she said, standing up.

"Oh right. Hey I'll walk you home. Wouldn't want you to get lost or something your first night here."

"Right, thanks."

He walked her to her building and up to her apartment, peeking in as they said goodbye.

"Whoa, this is what your place looks like the day you move it? My apartment was a mess the first year I had it. Took Cae weeks to make it livable when I finally broke down and let her work on it."

"Cae?"

"My girlfriend..Micaela, Cae..."

"Oh right, sorry. Nickname threw me off," she gestured to the rooms behind her. "My grandparents got the place for me, and my grandma is notorious for setting everything up like this, fixing things the way she thinks they should be...did it at Yale too, my freshman year."

"Ah the infamous Emily...well I'll let you get to bed. It was really great to see you again Rory. Here's my number in case you need anything, friendly face, whatever...or feel free to drop by Tony's, I work every night until eight, so you're sure to find me there."

"Thanks Jess. It was great catching up. I'd like to meet Micaela sometime...maybe the two of you could show me some more of the city..."

He laughed, "Sure thing, good luck tomorrow." He waved and started down the hall. "Bye," he called over his shoulder.

"Bye."

As she was getting ready for bed, Rory dialed her mom's cell phone.

"Hey honey, how's the big city treatin' ya?"

"Pretty good actually, did a lot of shopping and found a bunch of great looking restaurants."

"That's great babe. How was the drive?"

"Fine, uneventful, which is always nice. I loved those CDs you made me, but I have told you time and time again, we were mocking the Macarena, and you can't mock the mocking."

"I know, I know, I just couldn't resist. Besides I put Barry Manilow on there too...that's why its fun, all the embarrassing stuff we used to listen to."

"Used to? I'm not the one who is "hiding Barry Manilow" under the seat of her car...but yeah I liked it. Ooh ooh, I found this great coffee shop just around the corner from my apartment...and you'll never guess who told me about it, or rather showed me..."

"Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games...uh don't tell me. Jason Alexander, no? Okay how about...Donald Trump? Ooh with the hair!"

"Mom."

"Sorry. No dear, I'll never guess. Please tell me who it was who showed you this amazing coffee place."

"Cute mom...It was Jess."

"Jess? Like Luke's nephew Jess? Like the punk that wrecked your car Jess?"

"Yes mom, but he seems really different. And it's not wishful thinking either. He finished high school and is going to community college and working on his English degree. He's got and apartmentand a job; he seems like a completely new person."

"Okay honey...but just don't get your hopes up."

"No mom, he's got a girlfriend. They sound really serious too. Apparently "Cae" had to come in and make is apartment liveable for him."

"Cae?"

She giggled, "That's what I said; it's short for Micaela."

"Ah, I see. So was he at least nice to you? The last time we saw him was over a year ago..."

"Yeah it was strange actually. he was like super friendly, and not in the creepy way, just kinda buddy-buddy. And he seemed genuinely worried about what I would think about him having a girlfriend."

"Well didn't you tell me that the last time you saw him he told you he loved you then asked you to run away with him?"

"Well yeah..."

"Well I would feel pretty weird telling someone I said that to that I had a new, er, significant other."

"But it's been over a year.."

"It'd still be weird I think."

"I guess so."

"Well keep me posted on that okay?"

"I will definitely...hey mom?"

"Yeah kiddo?"

"I start work at the New York Times tomorrow. The New York Times!" She said excitedly.

"I know," Lorelai laughed, "You nervous?"

"I've never been this nervous in my life!"

"You're going to do great honey. You are an amazing person, you can handle anything. You will do fine. Just go in there and knock 'em dead okay?"

"Thanks mom, I'll try...hey mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you."

"Oh me too kid, me too. I wish I could be there with you."

"Well you'll definitely have to come visit me soon okay?"

"Absolutely. Now go get a good night's sleep and go blow that place out of the water."

She laughed, "Okay mom, night."

"Night honey, love you."

"Love you too."

The next day Rory began her "career" as a journalist, starting out as an intern at the New York Times. She met many new people at school and work, including one intern at the paper she became fast friends with, named Jenifer. She, Jess and Micaela became close as well. The four of them formed a close knit group, a support group it seemed. Helping each other out whenever one became over stressed by school and/or work. Rory's life was finally back on track.

* * *

Okay so I know that was kinda a cheesy way to end this chapter, but I kinda ran out of steam. Please review any way! The next chapter will be back following the story line, with Lorelai in New York. Reviews make me happy! Hearing sexy (and newly single) Kenny Cheseny saying that "You've got love letters" is totally the best part of my day! 


	9. Lost

Alrighty...thanks to those of you who have reviewed chapter seven so far. I was trying to figure out how to fit this chapter into the next one, and finally came to the conclusion that it would be next to impossible to do with a smooth transition, so its just going to be a short almost teasing chapter. Don't worry if you can't figure out what has happened...everything will be explained later. Happy reading! (and please review!).

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Chapter 8Lost

Lorelai was running. She could hear his voice yelling at her, but all she saw was white, endless starch white. She cried as she ran, desperately trying to get away; she wasn't sure how close he was, but she could hear him yelling.

"How could you do this to me Lorelai? I thought you loved me!" He yelled.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed. Still he came after her.

"You didn't love me enough to save it, you just let it die...you didn't try to protect it." He was gaining on her.

"No!"

"It's your fault." Suddenly Max was in view. She screamed as he came towards her, suddenly she couldn't move, couldn't run. She was falling...

"NO!" she sobbed as she bolted straight up in bed, clutching at her stomach and the sheets.

"Mom?" She heard Rory whisper from outside her door, sounding worried. She summoned all her strength, trying to calm herself, and called out to her.

"I'm okay hon. Just a bad dream."

Her door squeaked open and a little light seeped into the room, outlining Rory in the doorway and highlighting Lorelai's tear-stained face. When she saw that, she came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"You sure? It sounded pretty bad..."

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I've had the same one before," she tried to suppress the shudder that ran through her, unfortunately Rory saw it.

"Scoot over mom." She moved over to allow Rory into the bed, and she snuggled in, rubbing her mom's back. "You know you can tell me about it right mom? Maybe it'll make the dreams go away."

"I don't think so babe, but thanks."

Rory nodded and drifted back to sleep, but Lorelai lay awake, silently crying for all she had lost.


	10. Multiple Beers

No notes today...I just have enough time to type up the chapters I have. So here you go!

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Chapter 9 Mulitple Beers 

Lorelai had been in New York for two weeks before she found an apartment. It was about a half an hour from Rory's and about fifteen minutes from her office, and she absolutely loved it. It had two good sized bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, and a smaller den like room, she would be using as an office.. The main room was large and blended into the kitchen, making it appear larger than it already was. The company had offered to pay half of the cost of whatever she got, making this apartment affordable for her when it otherwise wouldn't have been...and she loved it!

Julie and her three year old daughter, Katy, as well as Rory, had come over to help her move in and furnish it. The four of them had had a ball furniture shopping, making the apartment an ecclectic mix of the four girls. Lorelai had decorated her room herself, and let Rory do the second bedroom, the one that would be reserved as her room. Lorelai and Julie had done her office, and the main room was a combination of all of them, even little Katy put her "two cents in." All in all, her new home was just that, a home.

On her first night at her new apartment, Rory babysat Katy so Lorelai and Julie could have a girls' night. They rented a bunch of goofy movies and Lorelai introduced her to the patented Gilmore movie night, loads of candy, popcorn, pizza, and in this case, beer, among other things.

After _Willy Wonka_ was over, they grabbed a couple of the beers and stretched out on the couch to take a break before they started the next movie. She and Julie chatted for hours about work, shopping, their kids, and issues with their controlling parents, and boys. Julie was excited about a new relationship possiblilty.

"Well tell me about him." Lorelai prodded.

Julie blushed, "His name is Daniel, Danny, and he's one of the teachers at Katy's school."

"Ooh," Lorelai teased, "What's he like?"

"Oh he's so sweet, he's great with the kids and Katy just adores him. He's really cute too. He's got the whole tall, dark and handsome thing going on." She giggled. "He's thirty seven."

"Good age." (A/N: That's how old Lorelai is ifyou hadn't figured that out, lol)

"Cute." Julie smirked at her, their multiple beers taking effect on their dispostions. "He actually asked me out yesterday."

Lorelai squealed and smacked Julie's arm, "You've been holding out on me!"

Julie laughed, "He asked me when I picked Katy up from school. He wants to take me to dinner and a movie."

"I'll babysit! That way I can meet him."

"Well actually..."

"What? You _are_ gonna say yes aren't you?

"Well yeah...but he wants me to bring Katy too."

"Really?"

"Yeah...Is that okay? Do you think that's weird?"

"No that's sweet! Sounds like he's serious about you."

"Really?"

"Uh, yeah. Most guys don't want to date a single mom, let alone take the kid along."

Julie grinned, "I really like him!" The two of them giggled for a moment. "But hey enough about me...all I really know about you is Rory and Christopher, that you used to own an inn, and that diners are off limits."

Lorelai sobered quickly (A/N: no pun intended). "Julie..." she warned weakly.

"Come on Lorelai. You've been closing yourself off to everyone, even Rory. You have to talk to somebody. Just tell me what happened with him."

"Him? How'd you know it ... ugh nevermind." She sighed and shifted on the couch, taking another swig of her beer. "I knew him for about eight years before we started dating..."

"How long were you together?"

"A little over a year."

"What happened?"

"The night of that thing with Rory and my parents, I went to him." She smiled softly, "He started ranting about how to get Rory back in school, and I realized I love- loved him, and so...I, uh, proposed."

"You proposed!"

"Yeah, but we decided to wait to decide anything until things with Rory calmed down."

"Oh...well what are you doing here then?"

"He started to act strangely, avoiding me and stuff. So after two months, I..I confronted him."

"What happened?"

Lorelai took a deep shakey breath, "He said- he said he wanted out."

"Out? Out of the relationship?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"He never said...the next day I took the job with Mr. Armstrong and, well, here I am..."

"Oh honey I'm sorry..."

"It's okay...I mean it sucks but things will get better...I hope."

"Oh, they will, they will."

An uncomfortable silence followed until Lorelai stood up.

"I'm gonna go get us some more beers and then we can start the next movie okay? I'll be right back, you get the movie started." She said and went into the kitchen.

"He owned a diner didn't he?" Julie called over her shoulder.

Lorelai nodded silently.

"What was his name?"

"Luke," Lorelai said softly, "Luke Danes."

Julie nodded in silent acknowledgement and went on picking the movie.

* * *

Okay well chapter ten will be along in a short while...enjoy and review please! 


	11. Anything But Sweet

Okay here's the next chapter, it's a little shorter than the rest, but I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading...please review!

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Chapter Ten Anything but Sweet 

Work was going well for Lorelai, and she seemed to have her life on track. She had worked out a system, spending two days a week at the company's property in New Jersey, and the remaining days at the office. She'd gotten to know her coworkers and had settled in well, earning their friendships and respect. On the outside it seemed as if her life was going well, like she was happy again. She even had Rory fooled...most of the time, but Rory didn't know about her long nights.

Gradually those nights were taking a toll on her though. Lorelai just wasn't sleeping. Lying in bed at night, she couldn't stop her thoughts, like she could during the day. Night after night she stared at the ceiling, trying to keep from thinking of him. Eventually she'd either drift into a shallow and restless sleep, or she'd give up trying, choosing rather to get some work done or watch television. The nights she did sleep, she usually dreamt, and her dreams were anything but sweet. They always ended with her jerking awake, sweaty and sobbing. In the past few weeks she'd gotten to a point where she'd stopped even trying to go to bed. Instead she drank loads of coffee during the day, and wore make up to cover the circles under her eyes.

Eventually the nights took a more visable toll on her, making her unhappiness known to Rory and Julie. Between the two of them, they tried their hardest to keep her mind off of him, but there was always something that brought her back to Luke, simple things like a baseball cap or even a stupid jar of jam had the ability to send her into a depression.

As bad as she felt, and as much as she missed him, she had to admit that things were getting a little better. As the days went by, she was gradually returning to her former self. She was spending more time out of her apartment, cracking some jokes again, even venturing into the corner diner with Julie without turning pale. All of her progress was soon erased, however, in one moment, when she was hit by a sudden realization while lying in bed one night.

* * *

The next morning Julie was on the phone with her now steady boyfriend Danny Lambert, when Lorelai came rushing into her office, looking scared and worried. 

"That would be gr- Oh. my. Danny, I'm gonna have to call you back." she said hurriedly and hung up. "Oh my God Lorelai, what's wrong!" She said worriedly as she stood up, ushering Lorelai into the office and closing the door behind her.

"I'm late and I just ate an apple." Lorelai announced, and promptly sank into the nearest chair, burying her face in her hands.

* * *

I know, I know cliffhanger...Review please! 


	12. Eight Letters

Well I guess you didn't have to wait long now did you? Hope you like it...now the real plot of the story evolves...Mwah ha ha! LOL

* * *

Chapter Eleven-- Eight Letters 

Last time: _"I'm late and I just ate an apple."_

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" Julie asked, rather bewildered. She looked at her watch. "You're actually a half an hour early, and what do apples have to do with anything?"

"I'm not talking about work." Lorelai groaned from her seat in Julie's desk chair, where she'd buried her face in her arms.

"Oh. Ohhhh." Julie breathed as the realization hit her.

"Yeah, and the apple just confirms it."

"How is that again?"

"I never eat fruit, and apples are what I craved the whole time I was pregnant with Rory...and I just ate one on the way here."

"Uh-oh."

"Exactly...Julie what am I gonna do?" Lorelai wailed.

Julie glanced at the door and back at Lorelai. "Well first things first, you have to calm down. Are you absolutely sure?" Lorelai started to nod. "You took a test?"

"Well..no.." she admitted, "but I'm _never_ late, and the apple..."

"I know what you said about the apple, but I still think you need to take a test first, before you freak out and worry yourself to death over what could be a false alarm."

"I guess..." Lorelai conceded.

"My suggestion is that you take a deep breath and go back to work. We can go to the pharmacy at lunch and then we'll figure this out from there. Sound good?"

"Yeah, I guess." Lorelai sat silently for a moment, gathering herself, and then rose and headed for the door.

"Lorelai," Julie called and Lorelai turned. "It's going to be okay, you know. If you are...you'll be okay."

"I hope so, God I hope so." Lorelai said, smiled weakly and left.

* * *

As soon as the clock struck noon Lorelai was at Julie's door, looking anxious and impatient. Once Julie wrapped up the account she'd been working on, they left the office, Lorelai anxiously propelling Julie towards the door. When they exited the building, Lorelai left Julie's side, making a beeline for the pharmacy across the street, making Julie have to run to keep up with her. When Lorelai stopped suddenly in the doorway of the store, Julie ran smack into her, unable to stop in time. 

"Ow. What'd you stop for?"

"I can't do it."

"Do what? Walk? You were doing a pretty damn good job of it a minute ago."

"Go in there." Lorelai shook her head, "I can't go in there, and take the test. I-I don't think I can do it."

"Yes you can." Julie said firmly, as she opened the door and tried to usher Lorelai inside. "Come on. You have to know eventually, just get it over with." When Lorelai still didn't move, she grabbed her arm and pulled her inside, "Come on, you're blocking the door."

That seemed to break her out of her reverie, and she obediently followed Julie farther into the store, absentmindedly apologizing to the people behind her. Before she realized it, she and Julie were standing in the middle of the aisle, staring at a wall of pregnancy tests.

"Oh God, I can't do this." Lorelai muttered and turned to leave, running into Julie, who turned her around by the shoulders, making her stay.

"You have to. Just pick one." When Lorelai still didn't move, Julie leaned forward and grabbed a box. "God you're worse than Katy. Come on, let's go pay for this and get you out of here before you throw a tantrum or something."

They paid for the test quickly and headed back to the office, grabbing take-out from the Chinese restaurant before going upstairs. Once they got back, Lorelai grabbed the pharmacy bag from Julie and walked straight to the restroom, wanting to get it over with before losing her nerve.

A few minutes later she walked into Julie's office, where she'd already set up their lunches, carrying the white paper bag firmly in her grasp.

"Well? What'd it say?"

"I don't know, I've still got a few more minutes."

"Okay. Here, sit down and try to relax. You're making _me_ nervous."

"Gee sorry." Lorelai retorted sarcastically and plopped down on the couch, jumping when the alarm on her watch beeped.

"Oh God...it's time." She looked at the bag she'd set next to her on the couch as if it were something that might bite her. She grabbed it and thrust it at Julie. "You look."

Julie took the bag and slowly opened it, peering inside.

"I took both of them, just in case." Lorelai said nervously. "Well...what do they say?"

Julie reached inside pulling out one of the tests. "They're both the same." She said softly, as she turned the test around for Lorelai to see...

_Pregnant_

Those eight little letters printed on the test flipped her world upside down.

"Oh my God." She breathed, her eyes welling up with tears as she leaned forward, burying her head in her hands. "Oh my God," she whispered again.

Julie set the tests on her desk and sat down next to Lorelai on the couch, pulling her into a hug and rubbing her back as she began to cry.

Lorelai rocked back and forth as she sobbed, hugging herself tightly. "Oh my God. What am I going to do Julie? What am I going to do?" Julie held her as she cried, letting her get it out, and she gradually began to calm down. "What am I going to do?" She sniffled.

"Well for one thing, you're gonna have a baby."

"No shit Sherlock." Lorelai chuckled wryly. "But I mean it. I haven't seen him in a month...I left without saying goodbye, he must hate me..."

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you."

"...And if he doesn't already hate me, he will when he finds out I'm pregnant. I mean come on, 'jam hands'? He doesn't want kids." She continued, not even acknowledging Julie's comment.

"Hey...he won't hate you." Julie turned her by the shoulders and made her look her in the eye. "He won't hate you, he may be shocked, maybe a little hurt, but he won't hate you."

"I don't know Julie, maybe I-" she jumped as a knock at the office door interrupted her.

"Hey Julie? Lorelai?" A voice called.

"Yeah?" Julie called back.

"Don't forget we've got that Anderson meeting in twenty minutes."

"Okay thanks." She called again, looking curiously at Lorelai, who had stood and was now pacing across the room.

She looked back at Julie with a tearstained face. "I don't think I can go in there and act like nothing's wrong. I just can't -"

"Okay." Julie interrupted her simply.

"Okay? What do you mean okay?" She asked, surprised.

"I mean okay. Go home."

"Really?" Lorelai looked skeptical. "What about the meeting?"

"I'll tell them you had something bad at lunch and went home sick. You can go to my apartment, it's closer. Here's the key, I'll meet you there after the meeting."

Lorelai looked a bit bewildered as she accepted the key. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Go. I'll make your excuses for you."

Lorelai waved and left the office and Julie rose, gathering her things for the meeting, and went to find the boss to explain Lorelai's absence.

* * *

"Hey sorry that took so long," Julie called as she let herself into her apartment an hour and a half later. "Donna just kept going on and on and on, you're lucky you missed it, seriously. That woman needs to learn when enough is enough." She paused and realized that she still hadn't hear Lorelai respond. 

"Lorelai?" She called curiously, walking around the empty apartment. Then she saw the phone book on the coffee table, left open to a random page, and pieces of paper strewn around the room. She picked one up and raised her eyebrow at what appeared to be a pro/con list, then shook her head and began gathering up the crumpled balls of notebook paper and throwing them away. That was what she was doing when Lorelai walked in a few minutes later in an almost zombie - like state. She tossed her keys and purse onto the kitchen counter and sank into the nearest chair with a glazed look in her eyes.

"Lorelai? You okay?" When she got no response she tried again, waving her hand in front of Lorelai's face. "Lorelai? Where were you?"

"I went to an OB-GYN."

"An OB-G-"

"I'm nearly six weeks pregnant." She said softly.

"Oh honey."

"It all seems so real now." She said, taking a deep shaky breath. "I think I need to lay down, figure some things out." She stood slowly and reached for her purse.

"Oh no you don't." Julie said quickly, snatching her keys from the counter and taking her purse from her hands.

"What..."

"No way am I trusting you to drive like this. You're staying here until I'm sure you're okay."

"Are you always this bossy?"

"Yes. Now go, rest."

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Lorelai muttered, allowing herself to be ushered towards the guest room, but stopping at the door. "Julie?"

"Hmm?"

"Uh- Thank you, just, thank you." Lorelai said quickly, closing the guest room door quietly behind her.

As soon as Lorelai closed the door, Julie grabbed Lorelai's cell phone off the counter where she'd dropped it and dialed a number.

"Hello? Mom?"

"Uh, no. Rory it's Julie."

"Oh hey Julie. Is everything okay?"

"Well, um, not really. Your mom needs you Rory."

* * *

Hope you liked it...tell me what you think! 


	13. It Wasnt Supposed to be This Way

Alright everyone...here we go. I'm not completely sure why I said it like that...nothing too huge is going to happen in this/these chapters...I think. I'm gonna combine the next two chapters as one so I can get back in sync (and I definitely don't mean the band N'SYNC) with the FanFic chapter counter.

I know a lot of you are anxious for Luke and Lorelai to get back together, and I promise you that they will, but it just might be another few chapters. I've got great plans though and I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far...I feel really really special that all of ya'll like my story. Thanks for your feedback, and I promise you will not be disappointed.

* * *

Chapter 12 ---- It Wasn't Supposed to be This Way

Rory wasted no time getting to Julie's apartment after the call, and was extremely worried. Julie said it was nothing life threatening, but anything more than that Lorelai would have to be the one to tell her. She had no idea what could be wrong, and was worried about her mom.

When she arrived at Julie's apartment, Julie pointed her towards the guest room Lorelai was in.

"What's going on Julie?" Rory asked nervously.

"She needs to be the one to tell you." She said, nodding towards the closed door. "Go on."

Rory knocked softly and then hesitantly opened the door when she heard her mother's muffled reply of,

"Come in."

"Mom," she called softly, and was startled by Lorelai's appearance. Her hair was a mess, and she'd been crying, leaving her eyes red and puffy. Buried under the blankets of the queen size bed, she looked tiny and vulnerable, and Rory had never seen her mom this bad before.

"Oh my God," she breathed, "What happened?" She asked as she carefully climbed onto the bed, gathering her mom into her arms.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way.." She got out on a shaky breath, before bursting into tears.

"Oh mom," Rory said quietly, "What wasn't?"

"He wasn't supposed to leave me, I wasn't supposed to be in this position again." Lorelai cried.

"What position? Mom you aren't making any sense."

Lorelai tried to pull herself together. "Rory I- I'm p-pregnant" She stuttered out.

"You're what?"

"Pregnant," she sniffled, "Almost six weeks."

"Uh...wow." Rory said, shocked. "How - how long have you known?"

Lorelai sniffled, "I suspected it last night when I realized I'd been eating apples and was late, then Julie and I went to the pharmacy at lunch, and well, the test was positive."

"Oh mom, what are you going to do?"

"Past having this baby, I'm not sure."

"When are you going to tell Luke?"

"I'm not sure I am honey."

"What! He has to know Mom. He's going to be a father!"

"I know that honey, and maybe someday I'll tell him. But right now I just can't, he'll want to do the right thing."

"I'm failing to see how that's a bad thing."

"He doesn't want to be with me! He'd be staying with me because of the baby. We'd be miserable. You have no idea how painful it is to know that the guy you're with doesn't really want to be with you! He'd resent me, and the baby by association, and I don't want that."

"He wouldn't resent you or the baby mom. He loves you!" Lorelai scoffed. "He just freaked out a little mom."

"Ha!" Lorelai exploded, "A little? The man withdrew completely from me for two months before telling me he wanted out of the relationship. You call that 'just freaking out a little'?"

"Well no...but..."

"No buts, I don't want to discuss this with you. It's my decision to make and I will, no one else."

"Okay, okay," Rory said, holding her hands up in surrender. "It's your decision."

"Thank you." Lorelai nodded, more for self assurance than for Rory.

They sat in an awkward silence for a moment until Rory spoke.

"So...I'm gonna be a big sister?"

Lorelai smiled, "Yeah."

* * *

A couple of days later, Lorelai woke up suddenly, early in the morning. She laid in bed, annoyed and wondering why she'd woken up. She started to roll over to check the time, and immediately knew why. She jumped up from the bed and sprinted to the bathroom, barely making it in time to lean over the toilet and empty her stomach.

When she'd finished, she leaned back against the wall, trying not to move too much. From where she sat she could see her bedroom clock, 5:45. She'd woken up nauseous at 5:45! She groaned and leaned back over the toilet.

When Julie arrived at eight to take her to work, she found her curled up on the bathroom floor, still in her pajamas.

"Lorelai?" Julie whispered, kneeling on the floor next to her and pushing the hair off her forehead. "Lorelai, honey, wake up."

Lorelai groaned, "No, no more."

"Are you okay honey?"

"Yeah," she groaned as she tried to sit up, "No, I don't know."

"What happened?"

"Morning sickness."

"Oh, honey." Julie said sympathetically. "You think you can move? Let's get you off the floor."

"Mkay," she said, letting Julie slowly pull her to her feet. "Ugh I feel disgusting."

"Welcome to the joys of pregnancy, the part you selectively block out, along with labor."

Lorelai gave her a dirty look. "I remember this, but I definitely don't remember it being this bad with Rory. I know its been 21 years, but still." They slowly made their way to her bed and she laid back, dangling her legs of the side of the bed and pressing her hand to her forehead.

"You want me to call work for you?"

"Nah. Give me a few minutes, and I'll be fine."

"Sure." Julie sat on the edge of the bed, while Lorelai stood and slowly began getting dressed. "When did it start?"

"This morning around 5:45. I think it finally stopped around seven though, and I fell asleep."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. This better not be a regular thing. I'm not good at the early thing."

"No kidding." Julie said, and laughed when Lorelai stuck her tongue out at her.

"Okay I think I'm as ready as I'm gonna get."

"Okay let's go."

* * *

Chapter 13 ----- Shopping, and Visits, and Plans...Oh My.

A little over a month later, Lorelai stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom at Julie's. She'd actually moved in with her when her morning sickness had become almost unbearable. Now at three months pregnant, her nausea was finally subsiding, and she was beginning to show.

She'd made the decision not to tell Luke, much to Rory and Julie's dismay. She just couldn't deal with the idea of him being with her simply because of the baby. As much as they tried, Julie and Rory couldn't shake her from her decision. Gradually they were beginning to accept it, and instead focused on helping her deal with her intense nausea and new weight gain.

Now that her nausea was dissipating, she was struggling to accept the fact that, while she'd barely eaten anything in the past two months, she couldn't fit into her clothes. She was becoming increasingly frustrated as she hovered between being too big for her regular clothes and too small, in her mind, to start shopping for maternity clothes.

In an effort to keep her spirits up, Rory and Julie began planning a shopping weekend for the four of them, including Sookie, who was thrilled to be able to spend time with Lorelai after being apart for the past two months.

When Rory discovered that Luke would be out of town, courtesy of Sookie and the Stars Hollow gossip mill of course, they decided that instead of having Sookie meet them in New York, they would pick her up and spend an hour or so in town before moving on to the major shopping. It had taken some serious convincing to get Lorelai to agree to go, but a phone call from Sookie and Lane had put her fears to rest and now she was excited to go home.

Once there however, she was hit strongly by the sudden realization of exactly how much she missed the town. They decided that instead of spending two days shopping in New York, they'd cut it down to one, and spend the other visiting everyone in Stars Hollow.

After picking up Sookie, their first stop was the Dragonfly, where Sookie had "subtly" hinted to Babette and Miss Patty that they should be.

When they arrived at the Dragonfly they found that the brilliant minds of the gossip mill had put two and two together and had come up with they idea to gather the town, minus one baseball cap wearing diner owner, to meet Lorelai and Rory at the Dragonfly and welcome them home. Michel of course was having a complete melt down at the influx of "escaped mental patients" crowding the outside lawn and lobby.

Thankful that she'd worn the only clothes she had that disguised her growing belly, Lorelai quickly instructed her 'entourage' not to tell anyone about the pregnancy as Babette and Miss Patty raced towards her with open arms.

"Lorelai! Rory!"

"Welcome home dolls!"

"Hey guys!" Lorelai smiled and returned their exuberant hugs. "Did you two put this thing together?" She asked grinning, knowing the answer.

"You bet honey," Patty said with a flourish of her hand, "Everyone wanted to see you."

"Aw thanks guys. I appreciate it." She looked over to see amused expressions on Rory and Sookie's faces and a puzzled and apprehensive one on Julie's. "Oh goodness, I forgot to introduce you guys. Babette, Miss Patty, this is my good friend and coworker Julie Roberts. Julie that's Miss Patty, Babette, and that," she said smiling and gesturing towards the crowd of people, "is the town of Stars Hollow."

"Wow, " was all Julie could say, "Uh - nice to meet- everyone." To Lorelai she whispered, "Interesting, very interesting."

Lorelai just smiled and pulled her along as she began to introduce her to the rest of the town.

Before the day was over Julie had met Taylor, Kirk and Lulu, Babette and Morey, Andrew, Gypsy, and even Lane and her band. Rory and Lane had run off somewhere to get caught up, and Sookie had gone to the kitchen to prepare something for the crowd to eat, when Julie finally made Lorelai sit and rest for awhile.

"This place is incredible." Julie said, laughing.

"I know," Lorelai smiled, "but they welcomed me with open arms when I got here with Rory, and its been home ever since."

"Quite a group of characters, aren't they?"

Lorelai laughed, "Yeah, but you get to know them and all their somewhat freaky mannerisms become endearing...well most of them." She laughed again as the two of them watched Taylor yell at Kirk, and Kirk run away.

"I can see why you love it here."

"Yeah...I just wish that leaving him hadn't meant leaving this place."

Julie wasn't sure what to say to that, so they sat in silence, just watching the antics of the town of Stars Hollow.

Meanwhile, Rory and Lane had taken refuge from the craziness in the Inn's barn, and were catching up on the past few months.

"So I told you what's been going on with me, what's been happening with you and the town? Rory asked.

"Well Zach and I are still together, not much change on that front, and the band is working on getting a showcase..."

"Ooh exciting, let me know when and where and I'll try to come back for it."

"Great!" Lane paused. "I"m still working at the diner," she said carefully.

"Oh?"

"This probably isn't my place, but, he's not doing so great Rory."

"What do you mean?"

"He misses her like crazy. I think he tried to find her when she first left, but now he's just beating himself up that he can't."

"Oh."

"He leaves town a lot now, just disappears."

"Where does he go?"

"No one knows really, he just leaves, for a couple days, sometimes weeks. I think sometimes he goes to see his sister, others I'm not sure."

"Wow," Rory paused, "Do I tell mom?"

"I don't know, I just thought you should know," Lane shrugged. "I think he's still asking Sookie where she is, but all she's told him is that she was visiting you in New York at some point."

"Well...I'm not sure if I should be doing this, but here," Rory grabbed a nearby piece of paper and a pen from her purse and began writing.

"What's that?" Lane asked curiously and leaned over to see what she was writing.

"Her address. Hold on to it, and if he's still asking and looking for her in a few months, you can give it to him."

"You sure?"

"No, but they shouldn't both be miserable if it can be helped."

"Okay...if he's still looking in three months or so, I'll give him her address."

"Thanks."

"Rory?" They jumped when they heard a voice from outside.

"Oh that's Julie, we'd better go, " she said to Lane, then yelled, "Coming!"

They exited the barn to find Julie standing outside.

"Come on, your mom's waiting inside for you guys, Sookie fixed lunch for everyone."

"Ooh yum, let's not keep them waiting then," Rory said, and started inside with Lane and Julie following.

* * *

Okay now the next chapter will be a few months later...I think..I'm not quite sure yet. Don't worry, Luke will be back soon enough...I think in like Chapter 15. Please review! Luv ya guys! 


	14. Scotty and the Care Bears

Ah...I love it when the counter agrees with me...lol. Okay here's 14, no Luke yet, but I promise he'll be along shortly...probably in the next chapter. Keep in mind Lorelai is about 3 ½ months pregnant now, and she's been living in New York for 3 months now.

I own no one but Julie, Katy, and Scott...in this chapter anyway...I still don't own Lorelai or Rory...ASP and the WB do.

Because I know no cops, Scott will be loosely based on a combination of Elliott Stabler from Law & Order: SDU, and the character Bobby Halloran, from a book I read called Off Limits.Olivia Hart, will be loosely based off the L&O:SVU character Olivia Benson, and Captain Collins off of Captain Cragen. Therefore, if something about him seems familiar, that's why. Plus I'd rather not get sued, so I supposed technically I only half own Scott, Olivia, and Collins...some of the credit goes to Dick Wolf, and the author of the book whose name I cannot remember at the moment.

Please Review!

* * *

Chapter 14 ------ Scotty and the Care Bears 

Two weeks after the shopping trip, Lorelai jerked awake from her reclined position in her desk chair when she heard a knock at her office door.

"Lorelai?" she heard Julie ask, as she slowly began opening the door.

"Yeah," she said, as she cleared her throat, "Come on in." Julie walked in with her bag over one shoulder and a Care Bear backpack over the other. Lorelai laughed, "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah actually, Mike's sending me to Jersey for the weekend."

"And the Care Bears? Are they going with you?"

"Don't mock. I was hoping you could get Katy from school for me. My brother doesn't get off work until six, and she's out by three."

"Sure, I'd be glad to."

"Great, thank you so much. Her car seat is in my office when you're ready to leave. There are clothes and toys in the backpack for Scotts, so make sure he gets it. Her nightlight and blanket are in there too, so if she gets scared-"

"Hey," Lorelai interrupted," She'll be fine."

"I know, its just, I usually have time to prepare her when I have to be gone for a little while, and I didn't get a chance this time. I"m just worried about her I guess."

"And you have every right to be, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Its not your fault you didn't know in time." Lorelai assured her. " I'll make sure she's okay before I let them leave okay?"

"Thanks." Julie sighed. "I better get going if I'm gonna make it to Jersey in time for the meeting Mike so kindly scheduled for me," she laughed wryly. "Bye Lorelai, thanks so much, I owe you one!" She called on her way out the door.

* * *

By five, Lorelai had picked Katy up from preschool, much to the little girl's surprise and excitement, and was trying to come up with something to fix her for dinner. After she decided to go with her safest bet, macaroni and cheese, she set Katy up with one of the Care Bear videos Julie had sent, and went and got out of her work clothes. Once she'd gotten comfortable, she curled up on the couch with Katy and let the excited little girl tell her all about the world of the Care Bears.

She'd just gotten Katy started eating when her doorbell rang.

"Okay, I'll get that, you stay here and eat your dinner Katy," she said when the little girl started to jump up, and stood, smoothing her maternity top over her growing tummy.

"Who is it?" she called as she made her way towards the door.

"Scott Montgomery. I'm Julie's brother, I'm here to pick up Katy..."

Lorelai unlatched the door. "Hi Scott, come on in. I'm Lorelai." She smiled and stood aside to allow him in.

"Uncle Scotty!" They heard Katy squeal, as she jumped up from the table and flung herself at his legs.

"Hey there Katy-did!" He laughed as he lifted her easily and tossed her into the air as she giggled.

"Aunty Lori made me macaroni Uncle Scotty!"

"She did, did she?" He laughed and raised his eyebrows in amusement at Lorelai. "How about we go back and eat it then?"

" 'Kay," she said, wiggling out of his grasp and running back to the kitchen table. "We were watching Care Bears Uncle Scotty," the three year old said, mouth full of macaroni.

Scott laughed, "Finish chewing and you can tell me all about it," he said, following her into the kitchen.

Lorelai followed as well, smiling at Katy's excitement to see her uncle. "Can I get you anything? Water? Tea? Macaroni?" She said laughing.

"Water's fine thanks, I ate at the station."

"Station?" she asked as she filled a glass for him.

"Oh I'm a detective, NYPD.

"Oh wow."

"Yeah..thanks," he said, taking a sip of the water, "So how long have you worked with Julie?"

"Only a few months, I owned an inn in Connecticut but moved to New York when I got the offer from Mike."

"You owned an inn? Why would you give that up to work for the Durham group?...if you don't mind me asking that is."

"Well, it, uh gave me a way out of a complicated relationship."

"The baby's father?"

Lorelai just stared at him. "How did you..."

"I'm a detective. I'm paid to notice the little details. Like the parenting magazines on the counter, and the way you keep smoothing that maternity top and resting your hand on your stomach."

"Oh," Lorelai blushed. "Well, yes, the baby's father."

"Did he hurt you? Physically, I mean?" He surprised Lorelai with how protective he sounded, but she figured it was because Julie had been in that same situation last year.

"N-no. He never hit me or anything like that. Just didn't love me the way I need him to."

"Oh, I'm sorry then."

"No, its okay. I'm getting this little one out of it," she said smiling softly and resting her hand lightly on her belly.

"They you probably got the better end of the deal."

"Probably," she said, glancing over at Katy when she lost interest in eating and returned to the couch and her movie. Following her gaze, Scott smiled, then checked his watch.

"Well we should probably get going before she gets too engrossed in that video. Thanks for watching her, it was a lot of help to be able to get her here, and I know it put Julie's mind at ease.

"It wasn't a problem at all. Katy's a sweetheart."

"Well thanks anyway." He smiled at her, then called to Katy. "Hey Katy-did, time to get going hon, grab your backpack."

At the door, Lorelai tried to give Scott the last minute instructions Julie had given her. "She's got a nightlight and blanket in her bag...and here's my number, in case you need anything, or she gets freaked out."

"I'm sure we'll be fine, but thanks."

"Bye Aunty Lori!"

"Bye Katy honey, bye Scott."

He smiled and waved as he hurried to keep up with Katy, who'd make a beeline for the elevator. "Bye, nice to meet you."

"You too," she said quietly as the elevator doors slid closed.

* * *

Lorelai was getting ready to meet Rory for lunch the next afternoon, when her cell phone rang.

"This is Lorelai." She answered.

"Hi Lorelai, this is Scott. Scott Montgomery. Katy's uncle."

"I remember."

"I'm sorry to bother you like this, but I was hoping you could help me."

"Is Katy okay?" Lorelai asked, worried.

"Katy's fine. Something came up with a case I've been working on, and I need to go in. I'm not sure how long it'll take, and she really shouldn't be hanging around the station since I won't be able to watch her, so..."

"You were hoping I could watch her." She finished for him.

"Please." he said sheepishly.

"Sure I can take her for a few hours. I'm actually just on my way out, so can I meet you somewhere to pick her up?"

"That's be great. Would the station be okay with you?"

"Sure, I'll need directions though." She listened quietly and quickly jotted down the directions to his station. "Okay, no problem. I'll see you in a few." Lorelai hung up, grabbed her purse and coat and quickly left her apartment.

Lorelai walked into the station about twenty minutes later and was nearly run over by a pair of cops hurrying out the door. She laughed at how rushed their apologies were, and made her way into the busy station. She stood in the doorway for a moment, looking for Scott, and an older man in a suit approached her.

"Can I help you?" He asked. "I'm Captain Collins."

"I'm looking for Scott, uh, Detective Scott Montgomery."

"He and his partner are in the interrogation room with a suspect at the moment." He eyed her slightly bulging tummy. "If you don't mind me asking, is business, " he gestured around him, "or personal?"

She placed a protective hand over her middle. "Both you could say. I"m a friend of his sister's and I'm here to pick up his niece, since he _unexpectedly_ had to work this weekend." She said pointedly and met his eyes, pleased when he looked duly embarrassed.

"Point taken," he said. "I think Katy's up in the cribs, but you can wait down here til Scott's done."

"No problem," she said, and made her way towards the desk Collins had identified as Scott's to wait for him. It was another twenty minutes until she heard his angry voice, and swivelled in his chair to see him and his partner leaving an interrogation room.

"Damn it." he fumed, and ran his hand through his hair. "We can't hold him, the bastard-" His partner cleared her throat and looked pointedly over his shoulder towards his desk. "What?" he asked annoyed, and turned. "Lorelai!" he exclaimed, his anger dissipating.

"Hey, am I interrupting something?"

"Yes, thank you." His partner said smiling.

"No, not at all," he said at the same time, and surprised her by enveloping her in a friendly hug. He laughed and made a face at his partner. "Let me introduce you guys. Liv, this is Lorelai, Julie's friend, Lorelai, this is Detective Olivia Hart, my partner."

"Nice to meet you." They said at the same time, and laughed as they shook hands.

Lorelai turned to Scott, "Your captain said that Katy was probably in a crib...?"

"Oh yeah, the cribs, that just our rest area upstairs. Hey Martin." he called over her shoulder, "Get Katy for me?"

"Sure thing Montgomery."

"No need for you to trek up there. She'll be down in a minute." He said smiling.

She made a face at him, putting her hands on her hips, pushing her overcoat aside and making her tummy visible. "I'm pregnant, not breakable."

"Whatever," he retorted.

"Aunty Lori!" They heard and turned to see Katy bounding down the stairs, closely followed by the officer Scott had identified as Martin.

"Sorry, she got away from me," the officer laughed as he handed the Care Bear backpack to Scott who currently had the three year old wrapped around his right leg.

"Thanks." Scott took the backpack and rolled his eyes at his fellow officer who, along with Hart, was shooting questioning looks between him and Lorelai, and, more importantly, Lorelai's stomach. "Get out of here." He shot back at both of them, and they snickered, but returned to their desks. "I'm really sorry about all of this, " he said, looking back at Lorelai, who was also trying not to laugh. "What?" he asked, exasperated now.

"Nothing," she giggled. "Its just, some nasty rumors are going to be floating around here about us, judging by all the pointed glances," she gestured at her stomach, "and you're standing there with Katy attached to your leg, and a Care Bear backpack and blanket in your hands." She burst into giggles, and he found himself trying not to laugh as well as her laughter became contagious. "I'm not sure why its so funny...but it just is!"

Scott grinned. "I'm glad you find this so amusing." He laughed. "Okay it is a little funny. Here take the backpack while I work on getting Katy off my leg."

She calmed herself down and took the backpack, and when he'd successfully pried Katy from around his calf, he followed her out to help her transfer the car seat into her car. Once that was done and Katy was securely buckled in, he leaned into the car, whispered something to Katy, laughed, and shut her door.

"What'd you tell her?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"Just told her to be good, and promised her a treat if she was."

"Julie'll love you for bribing and spoiling her daughter."

"Hey, I'm the fun uncle, it's my job."

Lorelai laughed, "Well, we'd better get going, I"m supposed to meet my daughter for a late lunch. You still have my number, so give me a call when you're ready to pick her up." She went around to the driver's side.

"Great, I can't thank you enough."

Lorelai just smiled and climbed into her car, she and Katy waved goodbye, and they drove off, leaving Scott to return to the endless questions of his coworkers.

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Please review! 


	15. So Close

Okay here we go with another chapter...Luke is almost here I promise.

Disclaimer: I know I said I stopped doing these but I figure I should clarify once in awhile. I do not own the Gilmore Girls characters. I can however take credit for Julie, Danny, Katy and about half of Scott...so don't steal them! LOL

A/N: Just for clarification purposes...Julie and Danny have been dating for about 5 months. Lorelai left Stars Hollow 5 ½ months ago, and is six months pregnant. On my "time line", Lorelai proposed in the middle of May, the baby was conceived in the beginning of July, and she confronted Luke and left in the middle of July. She found out about the pregnancy in the middle of August. She visited Stars Hollow in October, when she was three months pregnant. It is now the end of December, therefore making her almost six months pregnant.

Hopefully that clears things up for everyone...enjoy the story...and please review!

A/N: (12/16/05) Well I reposted this chapter with corrections frommy beta, but now I'm having issues with the capitalization. That is, the computer is randomly capitalizing the T in 'the' for absolutly no reason about halfway through the chapter. So, I apologize about that in advance...it's annoying to me, so I just want you to know that I didn't do it on purpose, or didn't try to fix it...cus I did...so, sorry about that...and enjoy the story!

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Chapter 15 ------ So Close

Lorelai and Scott became fast friends in the weeks that followed. He seemed to accept the fact that she didn't want a relationship, and instead was there to provide a friendly shoulder and helping hand whenever she needed it. He was a huge help with the pregnancy, making food runs when she had cravings, and helping her shop for the things she'd need for the baby.

She and Scott, and Julie and Danny spent a lot of time together, double "dating" or just hanging out. When Rory decided to go away with Jeni, Cae, Jess, and Evan, a guy she'd met at NYU, for Christmas, Julie and Scott invited her to spend it with them at their parents place in Maine. Her mother was very welcoming, and made her feel like she was part of their family, fussing over her and even making sure she had a present under the tree. The month before, she'd found out that her baby would be a girl, so the three of them spent a lot of time discussing names, not really picking one, but just tossing around some creative and sometimes crazy ideas.

It was towards the end of one of these conversations that Julie and Danny announced that they had some news. They had gotten engaged in November, and they announced that they'd decided that rather than have a big church wedding, they wanted a small family wedding while they were in Maine for the holiday. So, a few days after Christmas, Julie and Danny stood in front of the Montgomery family's Christmas tree, with her parents, Scott, Katy, and Lorelai as witnesses.

As part of their wedding gifts, Lorelai and Scott had volunteered to watch Katy so the newlyweds could have a honeymoon. Katy was thrilled to get to spend two whole weeks with Aunty Lori and Julie's house along with Uncle Scott, who had decided to also move in for the duration of the honeymoon, since, at almost six months pregnant, Lorelai found it a little difficult to chase after the energetic three year old. Julie and Danny were grateful of course, and gladly handed off her apartment key and waved goodbye when they left for their honeymoon the day after the New Year.

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Meanwhile, in Stars Hollow, Luke was still miserable. The town rarely saw him, and when they did, the smart ones steered clear. He wasn't in the diner much, and left most of the work to Caesar, Lane and Jeff, on of the other town kids he had hired. The diner and the town held too many reminders of Lorelai. Much of the time he found himself needing to escape, so he spent days, sometimes weeks away, on fishing trips, visiting Liz and TJ, and even took a couple of fruitless trips to New York to search for Lorelai. He wasn't sure exactly where to look, and ended up driving aimlessly around the city, and returning home worse than when he'd left. After those trips, he'd end up at Sniffy's, nursing a beer until Maize or Buddy would come over and talk him out of his funk.

It was after one of these unsuccessful searches that he returned late one night to find Lane waiting for him in the empty diner.

"Is everything okay Lane?" He asked.

"Well sort of. I've got something to tell - well give you."

"Well what is it? I've had a long week here, and I'd like to go get settled in. So make it quick."

"You might want to sit down for this." She said nervously, and he grudgingly complied.

"Well? What's going on?" Lane simply handed him a small slip of paper. He studied the writing on it, and then looked up at Lane in confusion. "What's this?"

"It's her address."

"Her add- Lorelai's address!" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"How did- Where did you-?"

"Rory gave it to me. Said it was time for you two to stop being miserable."

Luke stood and began pacing. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything to me."

"Well thank you Lane, I can't thank you enough." Luke said hurriedly and absentmindedly rushed upstairs.

"Bye Luke, good luck." Lane called, and let herself out, locking the door behind her.

Upstairs Luke was frantically going through his closet, discarding clothing and random items, and pulling out boxes, intent on finding one thing in particular.

Finally he pulled a large unmarked cardboard box from the back of the closet, and carried it over to the bed. Sitting in front of the box, he took a deep breath and opened to box, and began pulling out what looked like old papers and photographs. It was all Luke's parents' things. Wedding pictures, their marriage certificate, Luke and Liz's birth certificates, some baby pictures, and other family heirlooms. Eventually he came to what he'd been looking for. He reached in and pulled out a small black velvet box, and dusted it off. He took a deep breath and slowly opened it, revealing the sparkling antique diamond ring that had been his mother's engagement ring. He stared at the ring for quite awhile before pocketing the small box and moving all the family items back into their box and getting ready for bed.

As he lay in bed, he thought about the past five months, and how miserable he'd been without Lorelai. He knew why he'd reacted the way he had, and he knew he shouldn't have treated her the way he had. The only thought that had been on his mind The past few months was finding her. He'd stopped asking Sookie after a few weeks, when it became clear that she either didn't know where she was, or had been instructed not to tell him. Personally, he'd put his money on The latter. Instead, he searched for her, all over Connecticut and New York, even going as far as to spend a few days on The NYU campus in hopes of running into either her or Rory. Her last words to him ran through his mind constantly. _I love you, and I think I always will_. It had been at least five months since that day, but he could still hear her voice as she said those words, see The hurt in her eyes as she turned and left his diner for The last time, and he still kicked himself everyday for not going after her. Damn my stupid pride, he thought, If I'd just followed her, stopped her, she never would have left, never have moved to New York. He'd been right about New York it turned out. She'd gone to be with Rory, he guessed, and had ended up staying. He wondered what her life there was like. _Was she over him? Was she as miserable as he was? Had she, God forbid, met someone new?_ He tried to put those thoughts out of his mind, and instead began to plan what he would say. He planned to propose, but he knew he couldn't just walk up and do it, without an explanation. He had to figure out how to put into words what he'd discovered about himself over the past few months, the fear, the pain, and how much he needed her.

The next morning he got back in his truck and back on the road to New York, and this time, he knew where he was going. He was nervous as hell, and worried about what he would find when he finally found her. _Would she even want to see him? Did she hate him?_ Thoughts like these bounce around in his head The entire drive there, until he finally pulled up in front of The apartment building that matched The address he held in his hand. After making sure the box was still in his pocket, he left his truck and headed into The building.

"Can I help you sir?" The doorman asked, and interrupted his thoughts.

"Not thanks." He said, but then thought better of it. "Actually, maybe you can," he turned back and showed the man the address. "I'm looking for Lorelai Gilmore, at this address."

Over by The mailboxes she was picking up their mail, Rory froze. _It couldn't be him...could it?_

"What do you mean she's not here? He asked, beginning to panic a little. _So close, I'm so close to finding her...please!_

Rory turned to see Luke, standing by the doorman. _It is him. He actually came after her_. "Luke." she said softly, and he froze, turning at the familiar voice.

"Rory? Oh thank God." He came over quickly, leaving the confused doorman, and enveloped her in a hug. "The guy over there said your mom's not here."

"Well she's not actually."

"Wh- what? But Lane said..." He trailed off, and held up the slip of paper.

"Oh this is her apartment. She's actually staying at a friend's place. She's house sitting."

"Oh." he said, and visibly relaxed. "Can I have that address? I really need to see her Rory."

She hesitated. "I don't know - if that's such a good idea."

"What! Rory come on!" he pleaded.

"Look," she sighed, "I'll give you the address to where she's staying, but first, we need to talk."

"Uh, okay..."

"Not here. I'm running late for work as it is. Did you drive up here?"

"Yeah why?"

She started out the door. "We can talk on the way."

"Okay...wait for me!" He hurried out after her and opened the truck door for her.

Once they were settled and heading the right direction, Rory started talking. "What are you doing here Luke? What are you planning to do?"

"I need her Rory. I really don't know what I'm going to do, anything to get her to take me back I guess."

Rory nodded quietly, "These past few months haven't been easy Luke."

"I know."

"Actually you have no idea."

"What's that supposed to mean? She left without saying a word, not even goodbye. I've been miserable, and I've searched everywhere for her."

"I know, and I didn't mean it like that. When you get there you'll understand." She paused, "Ah, here's my stop." She grabbed a pen and paper from her purse and started writing as Luke parked the truck. "Here's the address to where she's staying," she pulled her hand back as he reached for The paper, and met his eyes. "Just go easy on her okay? Hear her out before you react, promise me that much."

"I promise Rory." She handed him the paper and got out of the truck. "Thank you Rory."

"You're welcome. It was good to see you again." She smiled and waved as she turned around and walked into The Times building, leaving him anxious to get to that apartment and see Lorelai, but confused as to what Rory was worried about.

_So close, he was so close to seeing her again._

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Please review...update is coming shortly!


	16. And He Stopped Breathing

I just wanted to thank everyone for all their reviews...so far I have 71, and I'm so excited that all you guys love this story. I wasn't so sure when I first started it, but I'm glad its loved and that I can continue it. I wanted to thank **Annie**, my beta, because I realized I hadn't in awhile...so thanks girlie!

Remember, I don't own Luke, Lorelai, or most of Scott...

...And now, without further ado, the moment you've all been waiting for...

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Chapter 16 ----- And He Stopped Breathing

It had been an interesting week for Lorelai. She and Scott were both staying at Julie's to watch Katy, and trying to balance who would do what to care for the girl. They'd finally adjusted to a routine that worked around their busy schedules and Lorelai's progressing pregnancy. Lorelai took Katy to preschool on her way to work, and picked her and dinner up on the way home. The three of them would eat a quick dinner, then Scott would take Katy to a friend's house, the park, or in today's case, her ballet class, giving Lorelai a break.

In her hour or so of quiet when Scott and Katy were gone, she'd begun planning the baby's room, and had even begun crocheting a soft pink baby blanket, a talent she'd allowed to grow rusty after Rory had outgrown the stage where the booties and caps were adorable.

She was just warming up their dinner that night, when Scott came in.

"Hey sorry I'm late," he grinned and swept her into a hug in his excitement. "We got him, that b-" She raised a warning eyebrow at him, Katy was only a few feet away after all, and the girl had a habit of repeating everything she heard, "uh, guy I was telling you about."

"That's great Scott."

"Yeah, he finally gave himself up when he realized how poor his chances really were, with all we had on him.

"Well congratulations then," she smiled at how genuinely pleased he was over their success.

"Uncle Scott! You're home!" Katy came running out of her room in full ballet attire, pink leotard, tutu, and slippers too.

He laughed and swept her into a hug, "Sure thing Katy-did. You ready for your ballet class?"

"Yup. Miss Carrie says we're gonna learn to do a ple- pli- p- what was it again Aunty Lori?"

"Plie honey."

"Yeah those. We get to do those today uncle Scott."

"Sounds exciting kiddo. Let's eat dinner first though," he said smiling as she tried to pull him towards the door, "You gotta be strong to do a plie." She made a face at him and scurried back to the table to eat.

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He spotted her Jeep before he matched the number to the building. His heart jumped into his throat as he parked his truck a couple of spaces behind hers and got out. He stood by his truck a few minutes, preparing himself. _This was the moment of truth_, he thought, _this moment will tell me whether the past five months have been worth it._

He was still standing next to his truck lost in his thoughts when he saw the building door open.

A little girl in a tutu bounded out the door and a man in dress pants and a black trench coat followed her out, and Luke turned, disappointed. And then she laughed. He froze. He'd know that laugh anywhere. He slowly turned around. She had her back to him as she and the man talked and she laughed again. The little ballerina bounced back up the steps and hugged Lorelai's legs, and then pulled the man back down the steps with her.

"Bye Aunty Lori." He heard the little girl call.

"Bye Lorelai, call if you need anything."

"I'll be fine," She called back, "Have fun!" She waved as the girl climbed into the car.

_God that voice_, he thought, _I'd know it anywhere, that's her. Now Luke._

"Lorelai." He heard himself call.

And she stopped breathing. _Oh. My. God_. She thought. _Its him, five months, and its him_. Her expression must have changed because Scott took a step closer, looking concerned, hand moving towards his hip, where his holster was hidden under his coat.

She shook her head slightly, trying to tell him that it wasn't necessary. She waved him off and he returned to Katy and the car, still keeping an eye on her.

_How did he find me?_ She thought, _What would he think? _He hand fluttered to her stomach, her back still to him.

"Lorelai?" She heard him call again.

She took a deep breath. _Its now or never Lorelai._ She told herself, and slowly turned around.

His eyes widened slowly, and he stopped breathing.

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I know, I know, I'm cruel for stopping it there. I do have the next chapter already written but I won't have time to type it until after finals next week. I promise I'll put it up as soon as they're done...think Wednesday or Thursday. Please review! 


	17. Reactions and Explanations

Alrighty then...I don't think I've ever gotten so many reviews for a single chapter...over 20! I'm glad you guys love it...even if you think I'm evil! LOL I just had to get you to come back and read the next chapter. Sorry about those Ts on the last chapter...hopefully they won't be a problem in this chapter, but I make no guarantees. I know you're dying to know how Luke will react, and most of you probably haven't even read this author's note because of that, so I'm going to end it here and go into the story...Enjoy (and review!)

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Chapter 17 ------ Reactions and Explainations

_Last time: She took a deep breath and slowly turned around. His eyes widened slowly, and he stopped breathing._

She held her breath as she watched his eyes widen in surprise.

_P-preg-she- she's- Oh- my- pregnant._ He couldn't even string a coherent thought together. It had never occurred to him that she could be pregnant. _I mean, sure, I had thought about kids with Lorelai, but that was before she was mulling, before everything went wrong...Jeez, pregnant._

She simply stood on the building's steps in silence, waiting fore some type of reaction from him. Anger, hurt, hell, she'd settle for him saying anything at this point. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew Scott was standing by his car waiting for some sort of sign from her that it was okay for him to leave her with this stranger. She knew things were going on around her, it was New York after all, but all she could hear was his silence, all she could see was him, the man she loved, staring at her, and she could see him trying to process the new information he had been handed. _Damn these hormones_, she thought, as she struggled to keep her emotions in check, letting a solitary tear slide down her cheek.

That single tear seemed to snap him out of the daze he was in. _Shit,_ he thought, _she's crying_. He felt a sudden jab of guilt and quickly closed the few feet between them and joined her on the top step.

She was shaking as she tried to hold onto her control. She tried to cover her face to reign herself in, but she felt his hands cupping her face, wiping away that one tear with the pad of his thumb. That one motion was enough to shatter what was left of her self control. She felt the hot tears begin to pour down her face, and she allowed herself to grasp his forearms as he cupped her face, allowed herself that moment of weakness.

He hated it when she cried. He never expected that one tear to be the start of a flood. It just about killed him when he felt her tears on his hands, and he tried his best to dry them. He tried to comfort her, murmuring softly until she regained some control and the flood of tears had been reduced to sniffles. He pulled her close to him, and felt her resist for a moment, then relax and rest her head on his chest. Somewhere in his peripheral vision, he saw the man in the coat get into the car and leave, and the world around them started moving again. He had millions of questions for her, but at that moment, it just felt so damn good to be able to hold her.

It felt so damn good to be held. She knew she should be mad at him, should demand an explanation, but at that moment, the father of her baby, the man she loved and hadn't seen in over five months, was holding her, and, as much as she hated to admit it, she needed that contact.

"Shh, I'm here," She heard him whisper, and suddenly felt indignant. She tensed and pushed him away.

"Wh-what?" He stammered, confused.

"What are you doing here Luke?"

"I-I came to find you Lorelai. I've been searching for you since you left." She shook her head. "I have! Damn it, I love you Lorelai!"

She scoffed and spun on her heel, opening the door and entering the building.

He grabbed the quickly closing door and followed her inside. "Lorelai wait. Talk to me!"

She turned on him. "Talk to you? Talk to you?" She could heard her voice raise and felt the eyes of the other people in the lobby on them. "You of all people should not be talking, asking me to talk to you." She jabbed her finger at his chest for emphasis. "I proposed to you. I proposed to you, damn it, and you shut yourself off. Told me nothing was wrong, but you wanted out of the relationship. And now you want me to talk to you? I don't think so buddy, not until I get some answers of my own." She crossed her arms over her stomach and looked expectantly at him.

He suddenly felt uncomfortable. "Can we not do this here? Please?"

She turned on her heel and pushed the button for the elevator, boarded it wordlessly, and when the doors opened again, she unlocked the door to Julie's apartment, entered, threw her keys on the counter, and turned around. "Well?"

He hadn't expected her to be this pissed. Hurt, sure, but he'd forgotten that this was Lorelai, that if left alone, she let the hurt turn into anger. He began pacing as he tried to find the right words.

"I'm waiting Luke."

He took a deep breath, this would be harder than he thought.

"I'm sorry Lorelai, I really am. I was stupid." She snorted in laughter. "Hey, give me a chance here." He said defensively, and she raised her hands in mock surrender.

"Please, continue." She said sweetly, too sweetly.

"When you proposed I was ecstatic, I really was, and I was thrilled to hear you say you loved me."

"Sure had a funny way of showing it."

"Damn it Lorelai!" He exploded.

"Don't you dare yell at me." She warned in a low voice. "You left me long before I left town. You have no idea what its like to tell someone you love them, when you've never said it before, and have that person reject you," she spat out.

"I didn't reject you. I was scared, damn it!"

Whatever she was about to yell back at him died on her tongue. "What was the big bad Butch Danes scared of?" She asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He sighed. "Losing you," he said softly.

"What?" She wasn't sure she'd heard him right.

"That's what I was afraid of, of losing you."

She shook her head softly, anger disintegrating. She gestured around her. "Look how that turned out."

"I know. I realized that the day I found out you'd left." He smiled sadly. "I realized I never really told you much about my mom."

A flash of confusion wrinkled her brow. _And I thought I was random_. "What does that-"

"It has everything to do with this, trust me." He gently took her by the arm and led her to the couch. "I was thirteen when we found out mom was sick." He cleared his throat at the sudden emotion he felt, and her face softened. "For awhile nothing really changed, but then she started getting sicker, and weaker. The treatments the doctors had her on made her nauseous, and she lost her hair. I watched the strongest woman I knew disintegrate in front of my eyes," he paused and took a deep breath, "and when she died- when she died, it was like this piece of us had been torn away. I was 17 and Liz was 15, and as hard as we took it, I know it just destroyed Dad. He was never really the same after losing her. I'd find him in their room staring at something of hers and I wouldn't be able to snap him out of it. When we finally packed away all her stuff, I'd hear him sobbing in the attic when he thought we were asleep. She was part of him, and that part of him died with her. He died a little over a year later, and-" He had to stop again. "And I swear I've never seen a man more ready to go." He finally chanced a look at Lorelai to see tears streaming down her face. He chuckled softly and took her hands in his. "I grew up keeping people at a distance, afraid to lose them like I lost her. And until you, I managed to do just that."

"Sorry to have ruined your plans." She got out, her voice shaky.

He cupped her cheek and wiped away the tears. "You two are so alike, and it scares the crap out of me to think that I could lose you too."

"Oh Luke."

"That night, the night you proposed, I realized how much I love you, and frankly, it scared me shitless. Somewhere in my mixed up mind, I thought that if I pushed you away, didn't let you get any closer, it wouldn't hurt as badly if I lost you. But when I got to your house and Babette told me you'd packed up your Jeep and left, I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. I realized then how stupid that idea was. It hurt worse than I'd ever imagined, to know I'd driven you away." She started to open her mouth, but he held a hand up. "You need to know that I did look for you, probably drove Sookie crazy doing it. I've been searching for you everywhere, praying I'd be able to find you, before you found someone new."

"Never Luke." She shook her head vehemently and grasped his hands even tighter. "There's never been anyone else. As mad as I was, and as much as it hurt, I couldn't imagine being with anyone but you."

He sighed deeply in relief and began to pull her towards him, but hesitated. "Can I..." He trailed off.

She smiled and pulled him by his flannel shirt. "You better." She whispered just before their lips met. The kiss deepened almost instantly, as the built up hunger from the past months rose to the surface, but was interrupted when Lorelai gasped in surprise and pulled away.

"What?" He asked worried, and then confused, as a slow smile spread across her face and she reached for his hand.

"She kicked." She said grinning. She placed his hand over the spot on her belly and waited until she felt it again and a look of amazement went over his face.

"That's- that's my-" He just shook his head in awe.

"That's our daughter Luke." She laughed as the baby kicked again and his eyes widened.

"That's incredible. My daughter. Has she- has she done that before?"

"Nope." She said, still grinning. "She must know you're her daddy Luke."

He shook his head in amazement as he took in the sight before him. Lorelai, glowing with excitement, sitting in front of him, six months pregnant with his child. "I'm going to be a father." He murmured, and looked at her with questioning eyes. "Why didn't you tell me, Lorelai?" He asked softly.

Her smile faded and her eyes began to pool with tears, and she tried to blink them away.

"Jeez, don't cry Lorelai. I just want to know."

She sniffled and got herself under control. "I know, I guess it's just these stupid hormones." She wiped her eyes and took a steadying breath. "I was just so afraid you'd try to do the right thing."

"Huh?"

She laughed a little. "When I got pregnant with Rory, everyone said Chris and I should 'do the right thing' and get married. I refused of course, we were just kids and we weren't in love, no way was I marrying him just because of the baby."

"But we're not-"

"I know, let me finish. I didn't find out about this one until about a month after I left," she said, placing her hand over her tummy. "I was scared that if I told you, and you wanted to 'do the right thing,' I'd give in, marry you even though I thought you didn't want me. I was afraid of a loveless marriage, and of you growing to resent me or the baby over the years. What terrified me the most though, was that I was pretty sure I was willing to give in anyway just to be with you. So I kept quiet. I just never imagined-" She cut herself off and gestured at him.

"-That I'd actually show up in New York?" He finished softly.

"Yeah." She studied him for a reaction. "I'm sorry Luke, I really am. I should have told you, you should have known."

"I just wish I'd been able to have been here from the beginning."

"No you don't." She laughed.

He winced. "That bad huh?"

"Yeah, that bad. I think I was miserable for a solid two months."

"I'm sorry," he chuckled.

"Well that part's passed. Now I'm on to weight gain, back pain, and funky cravings."

He chuckled again. "I'm not sure exactly what I can do about that, but I promise to be here."

"What?" She asked, surprised.

"I'm not leaving you again. I'll stay here in New York with you if you want, but I'm gonna be here for the rest of this," he hesitated a moment before adding, "and longer if you want."

"But you hate New York-" She began before catching his last sentence. "What do you mean longer?"

He reached into his pocket, "Now I had this planned before I knew." He gestured at her tummy. "I can't bear the thought of losing you again, I love you too much to go through that again. I love you...both. Marry me Lorelai." He got down on his knee by the couch and opened the black velvet box. She gasped and her eyes filled with tears. "I've loved you since you came into the diner with that damn horoscope, and you've become my best friend. I can't imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?" She smiled through her tears and nodded, choking out a _Yes, _and he took the ring out of the box and slowly slid it onto her finger, then slid back up onto the couch to kiss her deeply.

"I love you Luke."

"I love you too Lorelai."

They sat in silence for a few minutes with her resting on his shoulder and examining her ring.

"It's gorgeous Luke."

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for more tears. "It was my mother's."

"Oh," she said softly, and looked back down at her hand. "It fits," she stated simply.

He took her chin and turned her face to him. "In more ways than one." He said smiling softly as he lowered his mouth to hers.

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Okay, there it is, the reaction you've all been waiting for. Wow I think that's the longest chapter I've written. Next chapter will still be the same night, and will probably include the Scott confrontation some of you have hinted at. It might take awhile for me to post that one because I haven't written all of it yet, and finals are Monday and Tuesday...wish me luck! Please review this chapter while you wait though...it might make me update faster. (hint, hint!) 


	18. Nightmarish Interrogations

Here you go...new chapter. I got so many reviews for the last few chapters, and I'm so happy to know that so many of you like this story. I want to thank everyone for reading it, and especially those who leave reviews! I'm always excited to read all my reviews after I post a story, so thanks!

Thank you also to those who wished me luck on my finals. Luckily those are done now...think I did okay too, I'll have to let ya'll know for sure when I go back to school on the 4th.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, I've been decorating floats for the Rose Parade on Monday. I'm about three days in, and we've got three days to go. It's a lot of fun, it just takes a lot of time, so I haven't been home to work on this story. I also got started on other stories. I wrote a song fic called Tonight I Wanna Cry, and I'm working on a Law & Order: SVU story I might post. I'll let ya'll know if anyone is intrested when I do.

Consider yourself disclaimed!

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Chapter 18 --- Nightmarish Interrogations

They were curled up on the couch and Lorelai was fast asleep when Katy and Scott got home an hour later. After waking Lorelai up, Luke was introduced to Katy, who was soon sent off to bed, and then the adults got a chance to talk.

"I'm Scott, by the way," He said, and extended his hand for Luke to shake. "Katy's uncle."

"Luke." He said, shaking the other man's hand, "Lorelai's, well-"

"Fiancee." She interjected happily.

"Yeah, fiancee." He finished and smiled back at her.

"Whoa," Scott laughed, "Looks like I missed a lot huh?"

"I guess so." Lorelai said, and tried to fill Scott in on their history and what had happened while he was gone. Towards the end of their conversation Lorelai began to grow tired, periodically resting her head on Luke's shoulder as the three of them talked. Eventually her head began to feel heavier on Luke's shoulder and Scott was looking at her with an amused expression as her eyes fluttered in an effort to stay awake.

Luke nudged her softly. "Lorelai," he said in a sing-song voice, "I think we'd better get you to bed before you fall asleep right here." When he got no response, he added, "I'm not sure I'd be able to carry you."

"Meany." She grumbled and hit him weakly in the chest as he helped her stand up. "G'night Scott," she mumbled as they shuffled down the hall.

"Night Lorelai." He called, and in a lower voice, "Hey Luke." Luke raised an eyebrow in response. "Once you get her settled, come back out here. I'd like to talk to you." Luke nodded silently, and followed Lorelai towards her room, his hand resting gently on the small of her back, guiding her. When she had settled into the bed, he sat on the edge of her bed and she smiled up at him sleepily.

"After big brother's done interrogating you, come back and join me okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else." He assured her, and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and then her lips. "Go to sleep Lorelai." She nodded sleepily and shifted to get comfortable. He stood and started towards the bedroom door.

"Luke?" He heard her call and he paused, turning around.

"Yeah babe?"

She giggled at the endearment, "Just wanted to warn you, Scott's a cop. A detective."

Luke groaned, "Thanks for the warning." He smiled, "Goodnight Lorelai, I love you." He was met with silence, and he assumed she'd fallen asleep. As he slipped quietly out the door, he almost missed her reply.

"Love you too."

Luke smiled and made his way back to the kitchen where he found Scott waiting for him.

"Hey, have a seat." The other man said and gestured towards an empty chair at the table. "I suppose Lorelai's already told you what I do?"

"Yeah, you're a detective." Luke answered as he slid into a chair.

"So Lorelai says you two are engaged."

"Yes sir," Luke answered, slightly mockingly.

Scott raised his eyebrow as he caught hi tone. "Excuse me?"

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but Lorelai and I are adults, I love her very much, and we're having a baby together, and really, I don't need you permission to be with her-"

"I understand that, but what's important is that Lorelai and Julie have become very close and now she is like part of our family. We care very deeply about her, and none of us," he said firmly, "will stand to see her hurt again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Luke replied, equally firm. "And I have no intention of hurting her. I love her very much."

"Very well. But if I hear anything," he paused for emphasis, "from her or otherwise..." He let his sentence trail off.

"I appreciate that she's had someone like you and your sister to watch out for her while she's been in a city like New York. But I'm here now, and I won't hurt her, nor will I let anyone else." Luke assured the other man.

"Fine. If you'll excuse me." Scott stood, nodded to Luke and left the room. After a moment, Luke stood as well, and made his way back down the hall towards Lorelai's room.

She was sound asleep when he came in, so he slipped out of his flannel shirt and into the sweat pants he'd retrieved from his truck earlier in the day. He carefully slid into the bed beside her, holding his breath when she stirred, and releasing it when she snuggled into his side and sighed. He slipped easily into a deep sleep for the first time in months.

It was almost three AM when Lorelai woke up. She couldn't figure out what had woken her until she saw a movement by her door and lifted her head slightly to see Katy standing in her doorway clutching her blanket and sniffling.

"Katy honey? What's wrong?" She whispered, trying not to wake Luke.

"M-m-monsters." Was all she could say.

"Come here honey." Lorelai whispered, and she hurried over.

"Where are the monsters?"

"M-my closet." The little girl whimpered and hid her face in her blanket.

"Honey there are no monsters in your closet, remember? We checked before you went to bed."

"He musta come back Aunty Lori!" She insisted, and Lorelai tried not to laugh.

"Okay, we'll look again in the morning." She patted the bed next to her and Katy climbed up, snuggling in between Luke and Lorelai and resting her head on Lorelai's chest. Both girls fell back to sleep easily.

In the morning Luke woke slowly, and reached to pull Lorelai closer to him. Instead of reaching her though, he opened his eyes to see the little girl, Katy, snuggled in between them, blanket held tightly in one hand and the sleeve of Lorelai's sleep shirt in the other. He chuckled softly and slid quietly out of the bed. He carefully pried the shirt out of her hand, and lifted her easily from the bed. Katy just snuggled into his chest and put her thumb in her mouth as he carried her back to her room and tucked her in.When he returned to Lorelai's room, he found her awake and sitting up.

"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you. I just put her back to bed." He said as he crawled back into the bed.

"I know." She smiled. "That was sweet Luke. You're going to make a great dad." She kissed him softly.

"I hope so." He reached over and laid his hand on her stomach. They both laughed when the baby kicked.

"That's going to get old fast," Lorelai laughed, before shifting so she was leaning back against his chest and closing her eyes.

"You still have time before work?" He asked before she drifted off.

"Yeah," she mumbled," Just wake me by eight."

"That's in an hour Lorelai."

"S'Okay, gives me time to sleep and half an hour or so to get ready."

Luke knew he'd never fall back to sleep, so he settled back against the pillows, content to just hold Lorelai while she slept. Soon she was completely asleep, tucked under his arm with her head resting on his chest.

He was actually starting to doze a half hour later, when he felt her stir. She groaned and twisted away from him.

"No...I-I'm sorry." He heard her moan, still asleep, her face contorted in pain and sorrow as she twisted and turned.

"Lorelai." Luke was worried as he tried to wake her from her nightmare.

"No Max." She mumbled and pushed his hands away. She was starting to cry now, so Luke pushed his confusion aside and instead focused on waking her up.

"Lorelai." He sat up and grasped her shoulders and she struggled against him. "Lorelai honey, you need to wake up. Come on babe."

She gasped and sat up quickly, her hand flying to her stomach. She looked panicked, and Luke tried to get her to focus her eyes on him. "Hey Lorelai, babe, look at me. It was a dream. You're okay, you're safe. I've got you now."

Finally she seemed to completely wake up and began to cry again, burying her face in Luke's shirt.

Luke wasn't sure what to do, so he simply sat and held her, stroking her back and whispering softly until she calmed down. When she'd finally stopped crying, he pulled back a little so he could see her face.

"You wanna talk about it hon?"

Lorelai shook her head and climbed out of the bed, heading over to the closet.

"Come on Lorelai," he said from the bed, "It seemed pretty bad. Talking might help. Might make it go away."

"Talking won't make it go away. I don't want to talk about it. Not with you, not with anyone." She whirled around and spat out.

Taken aback, Luke just sat there as she grabbed some clothes from her end of the closet and stomped out to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he looked up to see her standing in the doorway. "Hey." He ventured.

She sighed. "I believe you just got your first look at pregnancy hormones." She smiled tentatively. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Lorelai." He stood up and enveloped her in a hug. "It's forgotten."

She smiled gratefully at him and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. Then she took his hand and led him out into the kitchen. "Let's have some breakfast and then I have to get to work."

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Kinda an abrupt ending, but I was getting tired and running out of ideas.I alsotyped this at like 3 in the morning so that explains any funky typos and such. Let me know if you find any and I'll fix them as soon as possible. Thanks. Please Review! 


	19. 2nd Author Note

A/N: Hey ya'll...just a quick little authors note to apologize profusly for taking so long to post the next chapters. I hit the biggest writer's block ever, and then school started again, so I've had zero time to get on the computer, let alone type. I've got two chapters written and I'll post them the minute I get enough time to type them up. I promise! Thank you all for being so understanding!


	20. Too Damn Early

Okay, you all have every reason to hate me. I am soooooo sorry it took this long to get a new chapter out. I hit a major wall and had to go back and rewrite things a couple of times, and then the chapter's been sitting in my notebook, waiting for me to type it up, while I deal with school, work, and musical rehearsals. Thank you sooooo much to those of you still reading, and thanks to all of you who have reviewed!

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Chapter 19 Too Damn EarlyLuke stayed in New York with her for over a week, until he ran out of clean clothes and decided he needed to got home and pack up some of his stuff, and take care of the diner, so he could stay with her for at least the remainder of her pregnancy. He'd put it off until then because he hadn't wanted to leave her alone, but Julie and her new husband returned from their honeymoon and talked him into taking care of things now, before it got too close to Lorelai's due date. 

It took some arguing and convincing, but he finally got Loreali to agree to stay with Julie for the week he would be in Stars Hollow. They had decided not to say anything to the town quite yet, so he had to return for awhile to make sure the diner was okay, and to explain things to Sookie. He hated leaving so soon after he found her, but he had to get it over with.

The first night after he left, Danny and Scott took Katy out so Julie and Lorelai could have some girl time, and get caught up.

"Okay, I live for a little over two weeks, and I come back to find you engaged and happy..what happened!" She laughed.

"He found me, he explained everything, and he proposed." Lorelai smiled.

"Obviously you accepted. So what happens now?" Julie asked.

"Well we talked and he's going to stay here in New York with me, until I go on maternity leave in a few weeks. Then we're going home to Stars Hollow."

"But what about work? Have you talked to Mr. Armstrong yet?"

"Yeah, actually, I talked to him yesterday. Once the baby is born, I'll eventually go back to working at the Dragonfly, and the Durham Group will simply be investors. I might occasionally do a little consulting, but I'll be staying in Stars Hollow for the most part."

"What's Rory thing of all this?"

"I'm not sure, she's been kind of closed-mouthed about it all. She's happy for Luke and me, but I think we're both going to miss being so nearby. I'm going to miss you all." She sniffled a little.

"Hey don't get all emotional on me now, we've still got three weeks until your maternity leave."

Lorelai laughed, "You're right, I'm sorry. I just can't help it."

They switched to lighter topics then, gossip about people at work, Julie's honeymoon, and the crush Scott's partner had on him that he was oblivious to. It was late when they finally fell asleep, sprawled across Lorelai's bed.

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A few days later, Lorelai woke up in a foul mood. Her back was killing her, and she felt fat, plus, Luke wasn't due back for two more days. They'd been talking twice a day since he left, and this morning she'd snapped at him and hung up the phone. She'd turned off her cell after that, ensuring that he couldn't call her back, and therefore keeping her crappy mood intact.

She and Julie were siting in a meeting when she suddenly grasped teh arms of her chair, her knuckles turning white.

"Ms. Gilmore?" Mike stopped talking, and was looking at her in concern.

"Lorelai?" Julie asked, "Honey you're as white as a sheet, are you okay?"

Lorelai took a deep breath and released it slowly, nodding, "I'm okay. Sorry, go on."

Mike had only been talking for a few more minutes when she gasped again, this time her hand flew to her stomach.

"Lorelai?" Julie asked again.

Lorelai looked up in pain. "I think- I think I'm having contractions," she whispered, looking terrified.

The conference room exploded into a flurry of activity. Julie and Donna, another coworker, rushed to her side while Mike called his secretary to call 911, and many of the men fled the room.

"We've gotta get you to the hospital." Julie said quickly. "Donna, grab my keys, I'm gonna get her to my car." Donna flew out of the room, joining them with their purses halfway to the elevator. They were halfway through the main lobby when another contraction hit a few minutes later. She squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing both women's hands and holding on for dear life.

"Too. Damn. Early." She groaned out.

"I know, Lore, I know, we'll get you to the hospital and they'll stop them, I promise." Julie assured her.

They got to the hospital in record time and the nurses wheeled her off, leaving Julie and Donna standing in the emergency room waiting room anxiously.

"Should we be calling anyone?" Donna asked.

"Oh my God, Rory and Luke!" Julie exclaimed, rifling through Lorelai's purse to find her cell phone. When she found it, she scanned through the phone book, chuckling a little when she found Rory's number listed under "Daughter of Mine." She hit send and waited impatiently as it rang.

"Mom, I really don't have time right now, is this important?" Rory answered, sounding rushed.

"Damn right it's important, and I'm not your mom." Julie said hurriedly.

"Julie? What's going on? Why are you calling me from mom's phone?"

"We're at the hospital Rory, she started having contractions."

"What! But she's two months early!"

"Well, I know that, and your mother knows that, but apparently your little sister has a mind of her own."

"Well I'm on my way...will they be able to stop the contractions?" She asked, sounding worried.

"I don't know honey, but that's why we're here, they're trying. They just took her in, and won't tell us anything yet."

"Well, I'm coming anyway, which hospital?"

"Huntington Memorial ER."

"Okay, I'll be there soon." They hung up, and Julie quickly scanned through the phone book again.

"Luke's Diner." A young girl's voice answered.

"Hi, is Luke there? Tell him it's an emergency." Julie said urgently.

"Uh, Let me find him." She heard the girl call for Luke and him in the distance.

"Who is it?"

"It's some woman, she says its an emergency." She heard him sigh, and the phone change hands.

"This is Luke."

"Finally," she expelled on a breath, "Luke this is Julie, Lorelai's friend."

"Oh hi, Lane said it was an emergency, is everything okay? Is Lorelai okay?" He asked, and hint of worry creeping into his voice.

"She's having contractions Luke."

_This must be what a heart attack feels like_, he thought

"Luke? You still there?"

He cleared his thought, "What hospital?"

"Huntington Memorial ER."

"I'm on my way."

"Hurry Luke." She said as he hung up.

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Okay well I didn't know the names of any hospitals in NY so I just used the name of the one I was born in here in Pasadena CA. I'm kinda posting this in a hurry, so it hasn't been beta-ed yet, so let me know if you spot any errors. Hope you like it, Chapter 20 will be up as soon as I can type it.

Please REVIEW!


	21. Bedside Explanations

See this is the part where I beg for your forgiveness. I am SO sorry it's taken so long, what has it been, months? This musical thing has taken more time than I thought it would, and I've had to deal with school and college prep stuff on top of everything. I've been writing, see, so I have a couple of chapters written, but it's finding the time to type them up that presents an issue for me. This chapter has actually taken me a couple of days, a few minutes at a time, to type. We have hell week for the show next week so I know there won't be another chapter for at least another week or two. Hopefully this chapter will be enough for all of you to come back and read until then. I'm so sorry I haven't posted until now, and I thank those of you who are still reading for your patience and understanding! Luv ya'll!

None of this is mine, I swear. I'm asking for the rights for my birthday next week, but until then, consider yourself disclaimed!

BTW, this chapter includes the explanation you've all been waiting for. But please, read the whole thing, don't skip ahead.

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**Chapter 20---Bedside Explanations**

His heart was beating a mile a minute as he raced into the hospital emergency room hours later, after speeding straight there, breaking multiple traffic laws.

"Lorelai Gilmore." He said out of breath, to no one in particular, "I'm looking for Lorelai Gilmore."

"Luke!" He heard someone call him from behind, and turned to see Julie. "You made it!"

"Of course, I came straight here. How is she?" He asked worriedly.

"They won't tell me anything," she looked almost as worried as he felt. "I'm not family..." she trailed off.

A nurse rounded the corner and Luke stopped her. "I need to find Lorelai Gilmore."

The nurse went behind the desk and flipped through some charts. "Are you family?" She asked without looking at him.

"I'm Luke Danes, her fiancee." He answered. "I'm the father."

The nurse looked up at him, studying him before nodding. "Have a seat. I'll page her doctor and he can fill you in on what's happening."

Luke sank into a chair next to Julie in the waiting room. After what seemed like hours, but was really about five minutes, a kind looking man in a white coat approached him.

"Mr. Danes?" He asked.

"That's me." Luke said, standing up and brushing his hands off on his pants before shaking the doctor's hand. "Is she okay?"

The doctor smiled. "Ms. Gilmore and the baby are fine." Luke sighed in relief. "We were able to stop the contractions."

"Thank God." Luke breathed.

"Yes, well, she was already dialated 2 1/2 centimeters when she came in, so she will have to be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy, but I'll go over all that with both of you once she wakes up. I assume you'll want to see her?" He asked.

"Of course I- what do you mean when she wakes up?" Luke asked, worried again.

"Well when she came in she was extremely upset, of course, so we gave her a slight sedative to help her relax and rest for her sake and the baby's." The men had been walking as he talked, and the arrived by her door. "She should be starting to wake up now, but I just want to warn you. As the sedative wears off, and she starts to come out of it, she may seem a little strange...loopy, you might say. She may not recognize you immediatly, or may not make sense at first. That'll wear off soon, and she'll be back to normal before tonight."

"Thank you doctor." Luke said, looking into her room, paleing slightly. The doctor noticed and assured him.

"She's hooked up to an IV to keep her hydrated, a fetal heart monitor to monitor the baby's heartbeat, and another to monitor hers. All standard, there's nothing to be worried about." He smiled kindly. "Page me when she wakes up completely and we'll do an ultrasound and I'll go through everything with you both."

"Thanks." Luke smiled as the doctor left, and taking a deep breath, he entered her room. Rory was asleep in a chair, holding her mother's hand and resting her head next to it on the bed. He softly touched her shoulder and she woke up with a start, looking around for a second. "Hey Rory." He whispered.

"Luke, hi." She looked at him, then at her mother, and back at him again. "She's been moving around, but she hasn't woken up yet." They both were silent for a moment, watching Lorelai, until Rory got up. "Now that you're here I'm gonna grab a cup of coffee from the cafeteria, do you want something?" She asked, hiding a yawn.

He laughed and shook his head. "No thanks."

"Kay." She looked back at her mom once more before leaving the room.

He sat down in the chair and picked up Lorelai's hand, running his thumb back and forth across it. Despite her pregnancy, she looked so small in that bed. _It must be somthing about the bed, the room, that shrinks people_, he thought, and fought flashbacks of his mother. _This is different_, he told himself, _this is a good thing, it's for the baby_. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, holding her hand, when she started moving. He let go of her hand and watched her closely as she stretched and turned.

"I-I'm sorry." She whispered hoarsely.

"Sorry? Baby you have nothing to be sorry for. You're fine, everything's fine." He said gently.

"I tried, I really did," she whimpered, "I didn't want to lose it."

"Lose what honey?" He asked, concerned for her.

"You've got to believe me Max, I'm sorry, I tried." She whispered, sounding pained and close to tears.

"It's okay baby," Luke tried to calm her, "Go back to sleep, everything is going to be fine." She groaned and gave in, slipping back to sleep, and he stood up, running a hand through his hair.

_What is this stuff with Max? What happened? _It had been driving him crazy since she'd had that nightmare, and now he guessed she thought she was having it again. He walked just outside her room and found Rory coming down the hallway.

"Hey Rory."

"Hey Luke, how's she doing?"

"She's starting to wake up, but she's not completely out of it yet." Rory nodded in relief and took a sip of her coffee. "Can I ask you a question Rory?"

"Uh sure." She shrugged.

"What- What happened between you mom and Max?" He asked quickly.

"Mr. Medina? Nothing that I know of. I mean, she never did tell me the exact reason she broke off the engagment. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know exactly. I just feel like something bad happened. She has these nightmares, and cries and apologizes to him in her sleep."

"Yeah, I remember something like that happening when she stayed with me, after she first got to New York. She wouldn't tell me what it was about though. Sorry." Rory shrugged.

"It's okay. I'm gonna..." He gestured back towards the open doorway.

"Oh, sure. Just let me know when she wakes up." He nodded and went back inside.

It was another half hour before she woke up again, this time completely.

"Hey," She whispered, her voice still a little hoarse.

"Hey," He whispered back, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Is everything-" she hesitated.

"Everything's good. Baby's fine, you're fine. They stopped the contractions." He assured her.

She sighed and smiled up at him, her eyes a little watery, "Good, I was so worried."

"Me too, but we're okay now." He smiled back at her. "You wanna see her? Doc said he'd come do an ultrasound when you woke up." At her nod, he reached over and paged a nurse. A few minutes later the doctor was in to check her over.

"Dad, you might wanna..." He trailed off, gesturing towards Lorelai's side, from where he stood at the foot of the bed.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Hon, come up here." Lorelai took his hand and pulled him towards the head of the bed as the doctor sat at the foot of the bed, lifting the blanket to examine her.

"Ah jeez." He groaned and turned his back to the doctor, as Lorelai laughed and caught his eye before squeezing his hand.

"Still at 2 1/2." The doctor said when he'd finished the examination. "I want to put you on bedrest for the remainder of you pregnancy, to keep the contractions from starting too early. We want to give this little one the time she needs to develop." He rolled over the ultrasound machine as the nurse helped Lorelai pull the blankets down around her belly and the hospital gown up. "Now this might be a little cold," he warned as he smoothed the gel across the swell of her tummy.

"Always is." Lorelai said, gasping a little as the cool gel made contact. He moved the want around a bit, until he stopped, pressing a few buttons before turning the screen to face them.

"There she is." He pointed out her head, arms, and legs. "Definitely a girl," he laughed. Luke stared at the screen, enthralled. A few minutes later, the doctor hung the wand back on the machine, pressed a few more buttons, and stood up. "We'll print you a couple of photographes you can take with you." He said as the nurse wiped off the gel, and helped Lorelai cover up. "Do either of you have any questions?" Both shook their heads and he smiled. "Well you know how to find me it you think of any. Otherwise, I'll see you in two weeks to see how that little girl's doing." He smiled as he left the room.

Rory and Julie came in then, and the four of them sat chatting until Rory had to leave to go to class, and Julie decided to go home, to give them time to themselves. When they were alone again, Luke finally got the chance to aske her about her nightmares.

"Honey, I wanted to talk to you about something. It's kind of been bugging me for a while, and I was hoping you could explain it to me."

"I'll do my best." Lorelai said, puzzled.

"The dreams you have, the ones where you apologize to Max. Honey what happened?" He asked her gently, and watched as she paled and a pained expression came across her face, her eyes filling with tears.

"Luke, please no.." She whispered, turning her head away on the pillow.

"Lorelai, honey, please." He squeezed her hand and gently turned her to face him. "I need to know. I promise I'm here for you, and I love you. No matter what." He told her gently, but firmly.

After a few minutes of silence, she took a deep breath. "If I tell you this, you- you have to promise to let me talk, to get it out." She pleaded. "I've never told anyone..."She sniffled.

"You can tell me, I promise." He assured her.

She took another deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. He was about to ask her if she was okay when she started talking.

"About a month before I broke it off with Max. I started getting sick, throwing up and stuff. I finally let Sookie talk me into going to a doctor, and it turned out, I was- " She took a deep breath. "I was, um- pregnant." She heard Luke's intake of breath, but closed her eyes. "I was about two months along. I- uh, didn't tell anyone, I just, couldn't believe it myself." She shook her head. "But, a-about a month later, I woke up feeling kinda crummy. Rory left for school, and I was going to take the morning off." She broke off again, trying to hold herself together. Luke picked up her hand, holding it tight, watching her, already dreading the rest of her story. "About-about halfway through the morning. I started, h-having cramps and b-bleeding." She said, her voice thick with tears. "I went straight to the hospital, but the doctors said it was t-too l-late. I'd l-lost the b-baby." She was crying outright now, and Luke was fighting tears, holding her hand, trying to give her the strength she needed. "They did a D & C, gave me something for the pain, and sent me home. A few days later, we took off on our little Harvard road trip. I just, I couldn't marry him, I didn't even want to tell him." She cried.

"About the m-miscarriage?" Luke asked softly.

"About the baby! He never even knew. I-I'm so horrible!" She sobbed.

"No, you're not horrible." Luke sat on the edge of her bed and wrappe his arms around her and let her cry. Gradually, her tears subsided and they sat quietly.

"I was so afraid I'd lose this baby too." She whispered.

"But you didn't. You're both going to be fine. I promise." He hugged her to him and kissed her head. "God I love you. I'm so sorry you went through that alone, but I'm here now. I'm not leaving you again." He whispered as he held her, and she gradually slipped into an emotionally exhausted, and thankfully dreamless, sleep.

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Please REVIEW!

(Again, hasn't been beta-d, let me know if you see errors and I'll fix them. Thanks!)


	22. The Name Game

Well this is kinda a filler chapter, but I figured I owed you all a new chapter, especially since I've been catching up on my updates for Away From the Job (My L&O: SVU story). Usually I write a couple of chapters ahead, so whenever I have time to type I can just get a chapter up, but this is the last chapter I have prewritten, so it might be a little while between updates. The baby will be born soon, and that's really as far as I had planned, so now I need to figure out what I want to do with the new family. Hopefully the story will come easily, I'll be trying not to take too long, I promise...

Thanks to all of you who've stuck it out for this story, even when I went months between updates! You are the reason I'm still writing this story...I love you guys!

Here's your new chapter!

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Chapter 21 --- The Name Game

When Lorelai was released, she and Luke returned to her apartment, where he insisted she went straight to bed, and stayed there. Luke refused to leave her side again, so Rory, Jess, whom Luke had reconnected with during his earlier weeks in New York, along with Micaela, went back to Stars Hollow to gather some things for them. Rory was able to fill Sookie in on the events of the prior weeks, and get a few of her mom's things together to give her something to do while on bed rest. Jess and Micaela boxed up some of Luke's things to take back to him in New York, but decided to send them back with Rory instead, and stay in Stars Hollow to help with the diner, which Lane and Caesar were struggling to run by themselves. Micaela loved the town, so they volunteered to stay with the diner as long as needed.

At her eight month check up a couple of weeks later, Lorelai was still dilated a little over two centimeters, so her doctor decided to keep her on bed rest, to try to let her make it to thirty-six weeks. By that time, Lorelai was going stir crazy two weeks in bed, and was driving everyone else around her a little crazy as well. One day after a total of three weeks of the bed rest, Luke suggested they start coming up with names, to get her mind off of her present situation.

"I want her name to mean something to us, not just some random baby book name." Lorelai said stubbornly.

"And no cheerleader names." Luke added.

"Cheerleader names?" Lorelai teased.

"Yeah, like Crystal or Stacy." He explained. "No Brittany or Ashley either."

"And no Heather, I don't want my daughter to be part of a high school cult."

"A high school cult?" Luke asked, his confusion written across his face.

"Yeah, didn't you ever see _Heathers_? It's about this group of girls all named Heather, and they're the popular girls who kind of torture this girl named Veronica. Come to think of it, no Veronica either, she ended up killing a bunch of the kids in the end...I think." Lorelai tried to explain.

"Okay, so no Crystal, Stacy, Heather, Veronica, Brittany, Ashley, or other cheerleader names." Luke listed. "Well at least we know what we're not naming the kid." He muttered.

"What about Elizabeth, for your sister? It was her wedding that kind of got us together." Lorelai suggested.

"Maybe as a middle name." Luke nodded.

"Okay so something Elizabeth Gilmore-Danes." Lorelai tried out.

"Sounds good so far." Luke chuckled. "What about someone who's important to both of us. We could name her after her." Luke suggested.

They were both silent for a few minutes, and Lorelai reached for the cell phone on the night stand.

"Whatcha doin?" Luke asked.

"Calling Rory, maybe she'll have an idea- Hey kid."

"Hey mom, what's up?"

"Well, we're trying to come up with baby names. We want her middle name to be Elizabeth, but we're drawing blanks for a first name. The only thing we've come up with is that we want to name her for someone important to both of us." There was a long pause while Rory was thinking.

"What about Mia?" She said simply. "Luke grew up with her around, and she was everything to us."

"Oh that's perfect!" Lorelai exclaimed, and turned to Luke. "Mia Elizabeth. What do you think?"

"Your daughter is a genius." He grinned.

"Thanks babe, you're amazing." Lorelai gushed. "Luke says you're a genius."

"No problem. Is there anything else I can help you with today?" She asked suddenly sounding professional.

"Oh are you at work?"

"Yeah, sorry. Boss just walked by. I gotta go okay? Glad I got to help you with her name."

"Me too kid. Love you." Lorelai hung up the phone, and turned to Luke with a big smile on her face. She leaned back into his chest and placed his hand over her belly with her own. "Mia Elizabeth Gilmore-Danes."

"Perfect." He said, kissing her. "Just perfect."

* * *

I know its short, but please review!

BTW I apologize to anyone who is named any of the names they turned down. I hope I didn't offend anyone...


	23. No Stoppin Ya

Okay...here we go with the apologies again. SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY! It really shouldn't have taken me this long to update again. My schedules crazy and I'm having to actually write the rest of the story now, instead of just type up what I'd already written. Oh and I GRADUATED! You are looking at...er reading stuff written by...a high school grad! Yay! LOL so glad to be done with that...It also means...more time for updating! Yay for that too! Now that I'm not in classes, I hope to be able to write and update a heck of a lot faster.

Thanks to all of you who've kept interest in this story, even with all the long breaks between updates. I love you guys...you're the reason I'm still writing this story!

This one and the next one will be kinda short, however, because I originally had it written all as one chapter, but that makes it super long, and I'm not quite done with the end of it so you'd have to wait even longer if I tried to do it all together. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the second half quickly and get it up today or tomorrow!

* * *

Chapter 22 --- No Stoppin' Ya

One week later Lorelai was lying on the couch, alone in the apartment, while Luke was out trying to find something to satisfy another of her strange cravings. She was channel surfing when she heard a light knock and a key turning in the front door. She looked up, expecting to see Luke walking in, and was surprised to see Julie standing in the doorway.

"Oh hey, you're up!" Julie said, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Yeah, I was getting a little tired of the bedroom." Lorelai said, by means of explanation. "Come on in."

"Well..." Julie hesitated.

"What?"

"Well we kinda thought you'd be asleep."

"Huh?" Lorelai was utterly confused.

Julie sighed. "Come on in girls." She said out the door, and stepped aside to allow a parade of women to enter the apartment. Rory, Lane and Sookie were all there, as were some of her Durham group co-workers. All the women were carrying large paper grocery sacks and Lorelai propped herself up in curiosity. "Surprise!" Julie said with a laugh, pulling some presents out of the bag she was carrying.

"You're throwing me a baby shower?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, we knew you were getting a little stir crazy from being cooped up for so long, and we didn't get to throw the office one we'd planned, so, we figured we'd bring it to you."

"Aw thanks guys, this is great!" Lorelai exclaimed, and all the women took seats around her, on the couch, chairs and floor.

"Well, let the festivities begin!" Julie laughed.

Luke returned twenty minutes later, and quickly excused himself to the bedroom, to escape all of the women, many of whom were either drunk or acting goofy.

Lorelai was stratched out on the couch, getting her feet rubbed by one of the women whe worked as a massage therapist, chatting and laughing with everyone. They'd begun telling baby showere horror stories, and she and Rory were telling them about Sheri's shower.

"And she just kept pushing, take the deviled eggs, take the deviled eg-God!" She exclaimed, interrupting herself, her hand moving to rub her stomach. The women around her raised their eyebrows in concern, but she brushed it off. "I'm okay." Skeptically, the returned to their conversation, not noticing Lorelai's failure to chime in.

"Uh-oh." They heard the low whisper a few minutes later, and watched as Lorelai struggled to sit up completely, noticing for the first time the wet spot slowly spreading beneath her.

"Uh-oh is right!" Julie exclaimed, helping her stand. "Looks like there's no stopping ya this time. Let's get you changed and then _you_ need to get to the hospital!"

Julie helped Lorelai slowly make her way to the bedroom. Lorelia opened the door and Luke looked up from the book he was reading as she closed the door.

"What happened?" He asked, placing his book on the bed and standing to help her.

"My water broke Luke, it's time." She said as she plled a clean, dry pair of maternity pants on, and he froze.

"W-what?"

"It's _time_!" She said with a smile and he rushed to her side.

"Well let's go!" He gently took her arm and led her out the door. Julie had already sent the party guests home, leaving Sookie, Rory, Lane, and herself.

"What can we do to help?" Sookie asked excitedly.

"Somebody call the hospital and tell them we're coming, and then meet us there!" He called over his shoulder as he led her out the front door and down to her Jeep. He helped her get in and buckled, then rushed around to the driver's side and slid in, starting the car and pulling into traffic. "How are you doing over there?"

"I'm okay until a contraction h-hits- son of a ..." She drew in a breath and closed her eyes, bracing herself in the seat until the contraction passed. "What- time is it?" She asked softly.

"What?" Luke asked distractedly as he manuvered quickly down the street to the hospital.

"What's the time?"

"Does it matter?"

"They're gonna want to know how far apart they are." She explained softly.

"Oh, its uh-" He glanced down at his watch. "2:19 PM"

"Kay, thanks." She said, covering her belly with her hands. She tried to breath deeply and calmly as they sped towards the hospital, but by the time they arrived the contractions were only five minutes apart and she was panicking.

They were ushered inside and a nurse helped her get settled into a bed. Luke was sitting beside her, holding her hand and trying to coach her, when Julie, Sookie, Rory and Lane rushed in, with the doctor right behind them. He made them stand on the other side of the curtain while he examined Lorelai. Moments later he pulled the curtain open for them with a smile at Lorelai.

"8 1/2 centimeters. We'll check on you in about an hour. When you reach 10 centimeters, we'll move you up to delivery." He said, still smiling as he made a few marks on his clipboard before looking up again. "Congratulations you two, looks like you're going to be parents tonight."

* * *

Sorry its so short...

Please Review! Hopefully I'll have the next part up within the next day or so!


	24. Welcome Angel

Okay here's the next chapter...told ya I'd get it up fast! Couldn't leave ya hangin now could I?

* * *

Chapter 23 --- Welcome Angel

By the time the doctor returned a little over an hour later, Lorelai was fully dilated, and yelling at anyone who came near her. She'd already thrown Luke out twice, and she wasn't speaking to Sookie or Julie, after all, they'd already had kids and weren't in labor. She was crying for Luke to come back in however, when the doctor pronounced her ready to be moved to the delivery room. Luke met her at the door as they wheeled her out of her room, and held her hand as they moved quickly down the hallway, leaving the other women standing in their wake, waving and calling good luck.

Moments later, in the delivery room, Lorelai was mad at Luke again. "Get away from me!" She screamed, "You're the reason I'm going through this!" Luke winced as she yelled and tried to push him away from her.

"Okay Lorelai. Right now I need you to concentrate on pushing, you can yell at Luke later." The doctor interrupted. "The baby's starting to crown no, so on the next contraction I need you to bear down okay? Now here comes the contraction-"

"No shit Sherlock!" She cursed through clenched teeth.

"On the count of three, push for me. One-"

"TwoThree!" Lorelai rushed as the contraction hit and she bore down, screaming simultaneously. Crying, she tried to lay back down, Luke's arm around her back preventing her from going far.

"Okay Lorelai, her head is out. You're doing great, but I need you to bear down even harder, as hard as you can on the next one."

"I can't! It hurts, God it hurts!" She sobbed in to Luke's chest as he desperately tried to comfort her. "Please, please don't make me do this." She pleaded with him.

"Come on honey, you can do it. One more big push and I promise you won't have to do it anymore. I know you can do this. I love you Lorelai."

"Okay Lorelai, push now!" The doctor ordered, and sobbing, she bore down as hard as she could, squeezing Luke's hand in one of her own and a nurse's in the other.

With that final push she collapsed backwards onto the pillow, still crying and gasping for air. Suddenly, along with her cries, a smaller, softer cry was heard. The doctor smiled at Lorelai and Luke as he lifted the baby up so they could see her.

"Congratulations you two. It's a girl!" He said with a grin. "Dad, would you like to cut the cord?" When Luke nodded he handed him a clamp and showed him the right spot. The doctor handed her off to a nurse who wrapped her in blankets and gently placed her into Luke's arms.

For Luke, time simply stopped. Nothing could describe the emotions he felt rushing through him as he looked down into the beautiful blue eyes of his infant daughter. Slowly he made his way back to Lorelai and lowered the baby into her waiting arms. "You did great honey. She's beautiful." He whispered as he smoothed back her sweaty hair and kissed her forehead.

"She's perfect." Lorelai whispered back, turning a teary eyed gaze to Luke, laughing a little when she saw his eyes misting up to, before looking back down to her daughter. "Hello Mia." She said softly.

"Welcome to the world, little angel." Luke whispered.

Reluctantly, one of the nurses stepped in. "Sorry to interrupt here, but we need to take her for a few minutes." She said sympathetically, as she reached down to scoop the baby from the arms of an exhausted Lorelai. "You'll get her back soon."

"Where's she going?" Lorelai murmured.

"They're gonna get her cleaned up. We want her to look good when she meets her big sister." Luke answered softly, kissing her forehead again. "I love you Lorelai. I'm so proud of you." He whispered, as she drifted off to sleep.

"Let her rest," one of the nurses advised after they moved her to her own room. "We'll wake her up in a little while for visitors, and then we'll get her started nursing."

"Okay," Luke said, sinking into a chair beside the bed.

As she was getting ready to leave, the nurse turned with a smile. "Your daughter will be ready in a few minutes. Does she have a name yet?"

"Mia Elizabeth Gilmore - Danes." He said with a nod.

The nurse nodded in return, "We'll bring Mia in in just a few minutes, and you can show her off to her visitors." She said with a smile.

Luke thanked her with a smile and turned back to Lorelai, glad she was able to rest. He took her hand in his, and laid his head on the bed beside her. A few minutes later another nurse walked in, cradling a small pink bundle. Luke smiled and stood quickly.

"Proud daddy already, aren't ya?" The nurse asked with a smile. Luke grinned sheepishly as she placed the baby into his arms.

"We'll be back in about an hour to get them started breastfeeding." The nurse told him. "Call if you need anything before then."

"Okay thanks." Luke said, slowly walking around the room with Mia as the nurse left. "Hey there angel." He whispered as the baby's eyes fluttered open. _She definitely has Lorelai's eyes_, he noticed with a smile. "You're perfect, you know that?" He asked with a small laugh, talking to the baby as he walked her around the room. "I guess I'm partial though, 'cuz I'm your daddy. I'm gonna give you everything you could ever want in the world, I promise. The best of everything. No boy will ever be good enough for my Mia." He promised the infant as he slowly sank into the rocking chair he'd pulled up to the bed earlier. "You've got a big sister. You'll get to meet her in a little while. Your mommy and I are awfully proud of her. Your mommy's pretty great too. A little crazy sometimes, well most of the time, but I love her anyway." He looked up quickly when he heard Lorelai's muffled giggle. She was sitting up, propped against the pillows, and looked rested. "You're awake! How do you feel?"

"Tired and sore." She answered quickly. "But exhilarated at the same time. Here, hand her over." She said, reaching her arms out for the baby. Luke stood and settled her into Lorelai's arms before sitting next to her on the edge of the bed and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hello there gorgeous." She smiled down into her daughter's eyes. She and Luke were lost in their perfect moment when there was a knock at the door. Both looked up as the door opened to reveal an anxious and excited looking Rory. "Hey kid, come meet your baby sister." Lorelai said with a tender smile, and Rory rushed over to her side and peered down at the baby.

"Oh she's so adorable!" She exclaimed, "And tiny!"

"She's perfect." Lorelai stated.

"And perfect." Rory amended. "Can I hold her?"

"Absolutely." Lorelai said with a smile, and Rory sat in the rocking chair as Luke placed the baby in Rory's arms.

"Well hello there little girl!" Rory said softly. "I'm your big sister, did ya know that?"

"Ooh! Look at her!" Came Sookie's squeal from the door as she, Julie and Lane made their way into the room and gathered around the infant.

"She's precious." Julie said with a smile, cooing at the baby.

"What's her name?" Lane piped up.

"Mia Elizabeth." Luke answered gently from his place at Lorelai's side.

"Mia Elizabeth Gilmore - Danes...you could call her Meg if you wanted." Lane said, thinking out loud.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, looking up from her sister.

"Well her initials are M. E. G. Danes. It could work." She explained. "But I love that she's named for Mia too," She added with a smile."

"Time to- Oh my goodness!" The nurse in the doorway exclaimed. "There's only supposed to be two visitors in here at a time." She scolded gently, "I need you all to clear out now though. It's time for mom and baby to try nursing." She said, and stood to the side as the four women said their good-byes and shuffled out into the hall.

* * *

I know it's a weird place to end it, but I wanted to get it posted tonight and couldn't come up with any other way to finish it...so please review, and I'll work on the next few chapters...

I have a sort of plan for how I want their family to pan out. I know what I want to happen in the next few chapters, but from there I'm lost for the rest of it. Do you think I should try to continue it all as one story, give it an epilogue, or would you guys read a sequel if I wrote one? Let me know soon so I can write the rest of it! Thanks for reading!


	25. 3rd Author Note

**This is just a quick note to let you all know I haven't abandoned my story! I've been on vacation for the past two and a half weeks, and have had absolutely zero time to write or type any thing. I do have a couple chapters for a couple stories already written from before I left, so I hope to have those up soon. Thanks for your patience and your continued interest in my writing! --Bambi McBimbo**


	26. Picking and Planning

Wow...so I apologize big time for taking so long to update. There's really no excuse I guess, but to say that I've had trouble figuring out where I was going with this thing, and add that to my busy schedule. It's taken me a while, but I think I've got this chapter planned out now, so it should be a little faster from here. I think we're looking at about four or five more chapters, and then I'll leave it open for a sequel...I think. I want to let you know, I'll be moving and starting school in the next few days, so it may be a little while before I update again, but after that, I'll be able to finish this a little faster. Thank you so much to those of you who've stuck with this story, despite my deficiency in updating...and thanks also to those of you who've recently discovered this story, I hope you enjoy what is left of it!

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Chapter 24--- Picking and Planning

Luke and Lorelai slipped into family life easily. Each revelled in the time they spent with their new daughter. Before long, Mia was three months old, and their life was wonderful. One day after spending the afternoon out shopping with Rory, Mia and Julie, a rarity these days, Lorelai started thinking.That night she sat at the kitchen table, nursing Mia, while Luke cooked dinner.

"Hey Luke."

"Yeah babe?" He responded, busily stirring and adding to the pan.

"I think I'm ready to get married."

He paused a minute, then turned to stare at her. "What?"

"I said I'm ready to get married. Or at least start planning our wedding. We were waiting until Mia was born, and now she's three months old."

"So, you're ready."

"Yeah. What do you think?" She asked, watching his reaction.

A slow smile spread across Luke's face. "I think you should call Julie and Sookie and start planning in the morning." He leaned down to kiss her lips, then run his hand over Mia's soft curls.

The next few days found Lorelai, Julie, Rory and Sookie, via speakerphone, gathered around the coffee table, picking out invitations and looking through magazines. Sookie would be catering of course, that had been decided years ago. Sookie made plans to come to New York to go dress shopping for Lorelai's dress, as well as the bridesmaid's dress that she and Julie would wear, and Rory's maid of honor gown.

----------------

The night before Sookie's arrival, Lorelai and Luke laid in bed, simply reveling in the quiet after getting Mia to sleep.

"Hey Luke?" Lorelai asked softly.

"Yeah?" He turned on his side to look at her, and smiled as she did the same.

"Where are we going to have this wedding? Are we ever going to move back to Stars Hollow, or are we staying here in New York?"

"Well," Luke answered thoughtfully and honestly, "I'd always thought we'd eventually go back, and I guess I assumed the wedding would be there. We'd started to plan the move before Mia was born, remember? But I guess if you want to stay here-"

"I want to go home too." She agreed with a smile. "Could we get married at the Dragonfly?"

"Sure. It's where this whole thing got started. Right there on the porch." He leaned forward and kissed her.

She smiled and whispered against his lips, "What are you doing?"

"Just stand still." He whispered back, deepening the kiss and rolling them over and lifting her nightshirt over her head

---------------------

Sookie arrived the next morning and the five girls left to shop for the day. At the bridal boutique, Julie sat with Mia on her lap, distracting her with a toy as she talked to the others through the dressing room doors.

"So, what do we think?" She asked with a smile as Rory and Sookie exited their room. Their dresses were a clear blue color, the styles only slightly different.

"I love the color." Sookie grinned, turning to look at herself in the three way mirrors.

"It's perfect." Rory agreed. All three turned to Lorelai's door, exchanging a look when it remained closed. "Mom? Everything okay in there?"

Slowly the door opened, and Lorelai walked out, tears welling in her eyes and a smile growing on her face. "This is it. This is the dress." She whispered and stepped in front of the mirror. The dress was strapless white satin. The embroidered lace bodice was beeded and had a draping skirt and chapel train. It was breathtaking.

"It's perfect mom."

After Lorelai had her measurements taken, they chose the remaining dresses, Rory's maid of honor, Sookie, Julie and Lane's bridesmaids, and Katy's flower girl dress. When their shopping trip was complete, they all went out for lunch.

"Can you believe how perfectly that all fell together?" Sookie gushed.

"It was pretty great." Rory agreed, making faces at her sister to make her smile. "Now we need to choose a place to have it, ooh, and a date. Do you know when yet mom?"

Lorelai smiled sheepishly. "No, no date yet. But we do know where."

"What!" All three women turned to stare at her.

"Yeah. We decided we want to have it at the Dragonfly." She revealed, and waited for their reactions.

"You're coming home?" Sookie asked hopefully.

"We're coming home."

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Alright then...there it is. I know it's short, but I'm kinda struggling here... Sorry for the long wait again...please review!


	27. Nostalgia and Excitement

Wow...I guess there really are no words for how sorry I am. I can't believe how long it's taken me to update this story. I had a hard time with writer's block for awhile, then got overwhelmed with a couple of classes. It is officially summer now, so I'll be writing more and hopefully updating a lot more regularly. Thanks so much to all of you who are still reading this story...I really appreciate your dedication!

* * *

Chapter 25 --- Nostalgia

Three months later, Luke, Lorelai, six month old Mia, Rory, Julie, Katy, Danny and Sookie all sat in Lorelai's apartment. They were surrounded by cardboard boxes; a pack-n-play crib in the corner the only thing that had not been packed. The group sat around in what had been the living room, leaning or sitting on the boxes that were sturdy enough. The group was chattering quietly when Luke came in from the kitchen, handing a bottle of beer to each person before taking his place on the floor beside Lorelai. She smiled up at him, taking his hand and squeezing it. He looked down at their joined hands, her engagement ring glittering up at him as he raised her hand to his lips.

"I can't believe you guys leave tomorrow." Julie sighed, taking a swig of her beer.

"I know! I"m going to miss you so much." Rory sighed as well.

"Aw, you know we'll visit all the time, and of course you'll be coming home a lot." Lorelai reached over and squeezed Rory's knee.

"Of course. Can't let my baby sister grow up without being spoiled." Rory grinned wickedly.

"I think Luke's already got that covered babe." Lorelai laughed as he blushed.

"Aww, does Mia have you wrapped around her little finger?" Sookie giggled.

"Jeez." Luke grumbled good naturedly, looking over to the crib where Mia was sleeping.

Sookie's giggling died down as she looked around the room. Lorelai looked up at her, surprised to see tears in her friend's eyes.

"Sook? Honey, what's wrong?" Lorelai asked, concern lacing her voice.

Sookie sniffled. "It's just, so much has happened in the past year and a half." She tried to smile through her tears as Lorelai scooted over to sit beside her. "You're so happy. Getting married, and you have a baby."

"Aw, sweetie." Lorelai pulled her into a hug. The group chuckled softly, reminiscing about the past eighteen months. There had been break-ups, and engagement and a wedding, new relationships, new job opportunities, a pregnancy and a birth. Lorelai looked around at the group. So much had changed, and looking back it seemed that it had changed for the better. She was happy.

* * *

Chapter 26---Excitement

The next day, she and Luke loaded the boxes into his truck and her Jeep. There were tears and laughter as Luke, Lorelai, Mia and Sookie said goodbye to Rory, Julie, Danny and Katy. Strapping Mia's carrier into the backseat of Lorelai's Jeep, Sookie climbed into the passenger seat, giving Lorelai a moment alone with her friends.

Lorelai wrapped Rory in a tight hug. "You be good. I'll see you in three weeks for the wedding."

"Of course. Can't have a wedding without the maid of honor, now can you?" Rory tightened the hug then stepped back. "Have a good drive, be careful, and call me when you get there."

"Yes mom." Lorelai laughed. "Love you kid."

"Love you too." Rory stepped back to stand with Julie and Katy, waving as Lorelai started the Jeep and pulled away from the curb.

A few hours later, Lorelai pulled off the freeway in Hartford to feed Mia. After Mia was nursed she called Luke while Sookie walked around with the baby and stretched her legs.

"Hey hon, where are you?" He answered.

"We stopped in Hartford to feed and change Mia. Where are you?"

"Just outside of Hartford. Almost home."

"Great, we'll be back on the road in just a few minutes."

"So what's the plan?" Luke asked, exiting the highway and pulling over. "You know the town will go crazy. I've been gone for seven months, and you've been gone for a year. We'll get ambushed." He grumbled.

Lorelai laughed. "Do you just want to head for the house?"

"Babette will see us go inside with Mia. We'll never get a chance to get settled."

"Well why don't we get the whole thing over with then?" Lorelai shrugged, forgetting he couldn't see her.

"What do you mean?"

"We'll just walk into the diner together, let them get it all out of their systems." Lorelai suggested.

"I guess that could work. Then we could take Mia upstairs if she gets too overwhelmed." Luke conceded.

"Okay then, it's a plan. Meet us at Sookie's and we can leave your truck there and head over in the Jeep."

"Sure, see you there." Luke agreed. "Love you, drive safe."

"Love you too, and right back atcha." They hung up and started back on the road, heading towards home.

They arrived at Sookie's house within ten minutes of each other. Sookie climbed from the passenger seat, waving as Luke took her place. "You guys have fun." She grinned. "You can leave the truck as long as you need."

"Thanks Sook, we appreciate it." Lorelai drove slowly as they moved through the town towards the diner. "Okay, this is weird." She stopped the car outside the diner and looked around.

"What?"

"There's nobody around!" Lorelai studied the town center, eyes settling on Miss Patty's. "A ha!"

"What? Aha what?" Luke sighed.

"This is perfect! There's a town meeting." She turned off the car, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Where are you going?"

"The meeting of course. This is perfect!" Lorelai grinned, opening the backseat to lift Mia from the infant carrier. "Come on. Grab her seat would you?"

"Lorelai-"

"Luke." She singsonged, bouncing Mia to make her laugh. "This is a great opportunity, everyone in once place. We'll get it all done at once."

With a sigh and a smile he climbed out of the Jeep, unbuckling the car seat and joining Lorelai on the sidewalk. "Okay, let's do this." He followed her to the door of Patty's, nearly running into her when she stopped suddenly. "Jeez, Lorelai?"

"You go first." She said quickly in a moment of panic, stepping back and pushing him towards the door.

"What the-?"

"Please? Luke?"

"Okay, okay." He shifted the empty car seat to his other hand and pulled open the large sliding door.

"Alright people, our next order of business is the Fall Festival, which is fast approaching. It's in two weeks people and we are lacking volunteers here-" Taylor was saying as the door slid open. "Well, well, well. Luke, so nice of you to join us." All heads in the room whipped around to look and see Luke in the door way.

"Is that a - baby carrier?" Miss Patty said slowly.

Turning slightly on his heel, he beckoned to Lorelai, who stood off to the side, out of view. Taking a deep breath and shifting Mia on her hip, she stepped into the doorway beside him. She chuckled softly as eyes widened and there was actually a collective gasp. She smiled as Babette was the first to recover.

"Lorelai?! And a baby!" Babette exclaimed, and the spell was broken. Everyone was talking at once, so me whispering to each other, others calling out questions to the couple in the doorway. Patty and Babette pressed their way through the room until they were standing in front of them.

"Welcome back you two." Miss Patty grinned.

"Let me see that baby!" Babette exclaimed and Lorelai turned Mia around in her arms to face the women.

"Oh what a doll!"

"So precious."

"What's her name dear?" Patty asked, and Lorelai smiled up at Luke. He placed an arm around Lorelai's waist.

"Her name is Mia. Mia Elizabeth." He answered and Babette and Patty exchanged looks.

"Can I hold her Lorelai?"

"Sure," Lorelai gently placed Mia into Babette's arms. The baby tensed then relaxed into the older woman. She and Patty cooed and talked to the baby, wandering around the room.

Most of the town had dispersed after Taylor reluctantly called the meeting to a close, and Luke suggested a move to the diner with the group of people who were left. Unlocking the diner, Luke set about getting coffee ready for everyone who'd joined them. Standing behind the counter, he watched as the town socialized. Mia was being passed around, Lorelai always hovering nearby as Sookie, Babette, Patty, Lane and others all got a chance to hold her.

After a few minutes, Jess and Micaela walked in, temporarily surprised and confused by the gathering of people in the diner they'd left locked. Spotting Lorelai, Micaela went over to say hi and see the baby while Jess made his way to the counter, slipping behind it to stand beside Luke.

"Quite the gathering." He commented.

"Yeah, they all wanna see Mia and Lorelai."

"They missed you guys. Constantly asking when you were coming back."

"Well, we're back."

"Permanent?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

Luke turned to watch Jess. "We're living at Lorelai's. You and Micaela can stay if you want."

"We do."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Luke was about to say more when Mia's unmistakable wail went up over the crowd. Luke hurried around the counter to lift his daughter out of Miss Patty's arms.

"A da!" The baby exclaimed as he settled her in his arms.

"Hey princess." He murmured in her ear as she snuggled into his shoulder, her head tucked under his chin. "She's a little overwhelmed." He explained to Patty, shifting the baby's weight onto his left forearm. He slipped back behind the counter, chuckling at the suspicious way Jess was eyeing the baby. "Meet your cousin."

"Hey kid." Jess mumbled, then chuckled at the wide-eyed look the baby gave him before she buried her face in Luke's flannel shirt.

Luke looked up, catching Lorelai and Micaela watching the two men and the baby before going back to their conversation. "So, Micaela want one yet?" Luke asked bluntly, enjoying Jess's spluttering and panicked look.

"What! NO- I mean, I don't - Ah jeez." Jess ran his hand through his hair. "Do you think she does?"

"I don't know." Luke held up his free hand in mock surrender. "I'm just watching her watch us." He chuckled.

"Damn."

"Watch your mouth around Mia. Don't need her picking up your language." At the sound of her name, Mia whimpered and shifted in his arms, her thumb slipping into her mouth. "Be right back." Luke carried her back around the counter, joining Lorelai and Micaela by a table. He slipped his free arm around Lorelai's waist and she grinned, leaning up to kiss him then the baby. In turn, he kissed her ear and whispered, "Mia's hungry."

Seeing Lorelai, the baby launched herself out of Luke's grasp and towards her mother. "Is that so?" Lorelai murmured as she caught Mia easily, settling her into her arms and batting her back with her left hand. "Micaela, do you mind if I take her upstairs to nurse?"

"Of course not, go ahead." Lorelai smiled gratefully, murmuring softly to her daughter as she worked her way through the diner towards the stairs.

"Is that a ring!?" Patty exclaimed, eyeing the hand patting Mia's back. Lorelai caught Luke's eye, smiling mischievously as she slipped behind the curtain and up the stairs while they ambushed Luke.

"Was that an engagement ring?"

"When's the wedding?"

"How did you do it?"

Babette and Patty tag teamed him and Micaela laughed as she slipped away to join Jess behind the counter. "You okay?" She asked, "You kinda look like a deer caught in the headlights."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm good." He recovered quickly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her into him.

Meanwhile Luke was fielding Babette and Miss Patty's questions. "Okay, okay." He laughed, hands raised. "Yes it's an engagement ring." They squealed. "Proposed when I found her. The wedding is in three weeks at the Dragonfly." He said the last sentence loudly enough for the whole diner to hear him. A hush fell over the crowd, then exploded into excited chatter. Luke laughed.

"So is Rory coming back for the wedding?"

"Is her dad gonna walk her down the aisle?"

Luke was nodding to answer the first question when the second came. "Yeah Rory's coming back in two weeks. Excuse me ladies." He slipped away, climbing the stairs and letting himself into the old apartment. He found Lorelai on the couch, settled comfortably into the cushions, her eyes closed as Mia nursed, her thumb absently stroking the baby's leg. Silently he settled down beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Her eyes fluttered open, looking up at him lovingly before they both looked down to watch their daughter nurse. Reluctantly, Luke cleared his throat and broke the silence.

"Do your parents know?"

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